Severus's mind is regressed and he Stays with Sirius
by TragediesPainfulKiss
Summary: Severus's mind is reverted to that of his two and a half year old mind due to a potions accident and as Albus is too busy finding a solution, he leaves Severus in Sirius's care. Much to everyone's surprise, the two bond.
1. Chapter 1

Albus shook his head, marvelling at the potions book in front of him. Well, it was actually a notebook. A notebook full of hardly decipherable notes. How he'd be able to fix Severus after his potions accident, with only this notebook of scribbles, was almost beyond him. It would take a day alone just to figure out what the various shorthand notes could mean, and that was without having to take care off Severus who was now in a toddler's mind.

"Abus?" A small voice asked.

Albus looked down at the carpet where Severus had been stroking Fawkes gently. He smiled warmly at the child. "Yes, dear?" He spoke softly, as he had easily discovered the child hated loud noises and was fearful of being hit or hexed.

"Nice biwd." He smiled, as Fawkes rubbed up against Severus's cheek.

"Yes, Fawkes is nice." Albus assured. "And I'll let you play Fawkes again sometime, but for now we need to use the floo."

"Use potty?" Severus asked, looking confused.

"No dearie, the floor." Albus smiled. "Come now, take my hand."

-000000000000000000000-

Sirius gave Dumbledore a look that clearly was meant to convey that he thought the older man had gone mad. The headmaster had sauntered into Grimmauld place, and had sat down on the couch in the living room pulling Snape with him. Before Sirius could even ask a question, Dumbledore had gone on to explain that Snape was really a toddler, and that he was hoping that Sirius would be able to watch him for a few days.

"Puppy?" Snape asked, looking around the large living room.

Dumbledore had smirked. "Yes, Sirius is a puppy sometimes." He nodded.

"Siwius?" Snape asked, looking fearfully up at Sirius who was still standing with his arms folded. "He no puppy..."

Sirius sighed and reluctantly changed into padfoot. He only allowed the switch for a minute, before turning back.

"He puppy!" Snape whispered, eyes wide.

"Yes he is." Albus applauded. "Aren't you a smart thing?" Albus looked up at Sirius. "Sirius...you're going to have to watch him. I'll be busy finding an antidote, and I want Severus somewhere no one can get to him. Somewhere more private."

"When did I sign up to be a babysitter?" He demanded, ignoring Snape as he stuck a thumb in his mouth.

"Lower your tone." Albus warned. "You may not get along with him as an adult, but he is not an adult right now. He's two and a half." Albus softened his voice. "And it will only be a few days, Sirius. I'll even pay you."

"I don't have a choice do I?" Sirius growled. Dumbledore never really asked, he simply masked his requests in the form of questions.

"Thank you, Sirius. I assure you, it is much appreciated." Albus grinned down at Snape, who had been very quiet. "Severus, this is Sirius. He is a very fun, and nice man."

"Fun?" Snape asked, eyes Sirius with big black eyes.

"Very much so." Albus promised. "And I was thinking you could stay here with him for a few days and play with him."

"You go bye-bye...no Fawkes?" Snape looked close to tears and Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Oh, don't cry. I'll be sure to visit all the time." Albus promised, giving Sirius a look that made it clear he was going to be checked up on. "And I'll bring Fawkes too."

"I be good for Siwius." Snape declared, looking up at Sirius with angelic eyes as if he really believed Sirius would fall for such rubbish.

"Remus is going to be coming over for awhile...I won't have him suffering in poverty." Sirius told Dumbledore.

"Of course. I actually think that's for the best. Remus was always sure you behaved...to an extent."

"Wemus?" Snape asked, clearly having been listening.

"Yes. Wemus is very nice too." Albus promised, poking Snape on the nose. "I think you'll like him."

"Abus like?" Snape asked.

"Very much so. I like both Remus and Sirius." He smiled. "And I want you to be good for them."

"I be good like always." Snape promised, smiling at Albus.

"I am sure you will." Albus nodded, before looking at Sirius again. "Now, I trust you know how to take care of a toddler. You did take care of Harry when he was around this age."

Sirius glowered. "Yes."

"Alright. I'll just warn you now that if you are mean to Severus, you will rue the day."

Sirius blinked. Dumbledore never threatened...never. He swallowed hard and nodded.

"Also, he does not like loud noises. He is also very shy and prone to panicking over the slightest things. Do be patient."

"Alright." Sirius nodded, resigned to his fate. "Where are his things?"

Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "Things?" Suddenly a smile appeared on his face. "Right, let me just go up and make a room for him. I'll put his things in there, as well." He stood up and smiled once more at Snape. "I'll be right back, okay? Be nice for Sirius."

Snape nodded, and was quiet. Sighing, Sirius slumped down in a chair as Albus disappeared up the steps. He wanted nothing more than a stiff drink, but that was certainly out of the question.

"Wemus puppy too?"

Sirius looked over at Snape when he voiced the question. Shaking his head, he spoke softly. "No. Remus is not a puppy." And neither was he. He was a dog, dammit. A dog.

"Siwius?"

Sirius sighed at the butchery of his name and raised a brow at Snape. "Yes?"

"Monstew huwt me?" He asked shakily, pointing to somewhere behind Sirius.

Turning Sirius spotted Kreacher, a mean look on his face as he glowered at Snape. "Kreacher, leave. You're scaring him." He demanded, not wanting Dumbledore to be angry so soon.

"Master shouldn't be having half-bloods's on his couch or men like Dumbledore in his ancestral home..." He hissed, pointing at Snape who promptly started to silently cry.

"Leave, Kreacher. NOW!" He snapped, hoping Dumbledore wouldn't come running down the stairs at the loud noise. As it was Snape was now bawling and hiding his face in his knees.

"Kreacher be leaving from such disgraceful sights's."

"Good." Sirius hissed, waiting until the damn elf had left before he rushing over to Snape. Awkwardly, he put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Hey...hey..hey. Stop...shhh." He pleaded, much to his chagrin. He was begging...begging Snape. "Shhh...hey it's okay." He was getting desperate to quiet the man up...when the thought hit him that he wasn't a man. He was toddler. Sighing, he forced himself to remember that it was wrong to not comfort a wailing toddler. Even if it was Snape, surely Snape couldn't have been as surely as he was now when he was hardly anything more than a baby. "Hey...come on." He said softer, sitting beside him and hugging his a bit awkwardly. "Can you look at me, hmmm?"

Snape thankfully looked up then, his eyes still dripping tears. "Monstew angwy with me?" He asked, looking fearfully at the doorway where Kreacher had just exited. "Monstew bad spell?"

Sirius froze. Bad spell? Shaking his head, he forced a smile on his face. "No, Kreacher won't hurt you. I won't let him." He promised, using his sleeve to swipe at the tears.

"Siwius not let monstew use bad wand spells?"

"What?" Sirius asked, before shaking his head again. "No...Kreacher is just a house elf..."

"House elf?"

What the hell? Didn't all Slytherin's grow up like he had? "A house elf is just a helper...he helps me clean." He explained. "And he won't hurt you."

"Pwomise?"

"I promise." Sirius assured, relaxing as the redness from Snape's face abated. "Now...do you want to play?"

"Pway!?" Snape seemed super excited, yet shy at the same time. He nodded solemnly. "No twicks?"

Sirius had plenty of questions by now, but knew neither Albus nor Snape would ever give them to him. Ignoring his desire for answers he transfigured up a blue ball and held it up. "Ready?" He asked, hoping to calm Snape down completely before Albus could return. "Catch." To his surprise Snape managed to catch the ball, looking pleased with himself before looking unsure of what to do next. "Throw it back." Sirius explained, exasperated as Harry had known how to do this when he was one.

"Cawtch." Snape smiled, tossing the ball way to Sirius's left. He barely caught it from knocking a vase off the table, and he fought the urge to snap at the man. Sighing, he tossed the ball back. Actually smirking when Snape laughed as he managed to catch it again. He quickly wiped the smile away and jumped up to catch the ball that Snape sent flying over his head. He was sure Snape wasn't doing it on purpose, but it was enough to aggravate him slightly. As soon as he calmed down completely, Sirius would go back to ignoring Snape...oh, he'd give him blocks or something, as he didn't want Albus to strangle him.

"My, what a fantastic catch!" Dumbledore's voice sounded from behind Sirius and soon enough the elder wizard was in front of him. "Very good, Sirius." He awarded. "Now why don't you two come and follow me?"

-00000000000000000-000000000

"Severus?" Albus asked, looking down at the couch where Severus still remained seated. He held out a hand, gesturing for him, but to his surprise, Severus shook his head no. Instead he held up his hands to Sirius, gesturing that he would like to be picked up. Albus was all the more surprised when Sirius muttered something under his breath and stomped over to Severus and hefted him unto his hip. Immediately Severus hid his head in Sirius's shoulder, seemingly content. Albus quickly cast a quiet spell, while Severus was distracted, making Severus lighter. Sirius gave him a grateful half-smile before gesturing at Albus to lead the way.

"Awbus...Siwius pway ball." Severus chattered, as they walked up the step. "Bwue." He added, before sticking his thumb in his mouth.

"Yes, I saw that. Did you like playing ball?" Albus asked, watching amused as Sirius pulled the thumb from Severus's mouth- seemingly by reflex.

"I like." Severus assured, before putting a pout on his face. "But Kweachew no like me." He added sadly.

"I am sure Kreacher didn't mean to scare you." Albus promised. "And I'm sure Sirius won't let him scare you."

"Wemus not puppy." Severus continued, more talkative than he had been since the accident early that morning.

"No, Remus isn't a puppy." Albus agreed, opening the door to Severus's room. Albus was quite proud of his work, really. He had redone the walls and carpet in complementary shades of blue, not wanting to put Slytherin colors in Sirius's house when he had worked so hard to remove them. A nice bed/crib sat in the middle of the room, piled high with pillows and blankets of the softest fabric. Nearby a moon-shaped nightlight sat on a night table. He had already stuffed the wardrobe full of clothes, and he opened it up to show Sirius where to find various items. He gestured at a chest near a window, which he had filled with toys. Beside it a bookshelf stuffed with books. Albus knew Severus wouldn't be like this for more than a few days, but still, he wanted to spoil him. If he didn't get to have the joy of being with Severus in this state, he'd at least make sure Severus had the most fun possible.

"Severus, this is your room." Albus explained, noticing the way Severus's eyes widened.

"Severwus's room?" The boy repeated, pointing at himself.

"Yes, and this your bed, and this is your wardrobe, and this is your toy chest, and this is your bookshelf." Albus pointed out the various things again, smirking when Severus's eyes went wide at the books.

"Books?" Severus looked up at Sirius who was glaring of at a wall. "Sevewus read? Siwius read hawd books to Sevewus?"

Sirius sighed. "If you're good." He said dryly, in a tone that suggested he didn't really believe Severus could be good.

"I be good." Severus assured, nodding solemnly.

"Alright, now lets head back downstairs." Albus added, grabbing a book from the shelf when he noticed Severus frown. Handing the book to Severus, he lead the two back into the living room

"Alright, I really must be getting back to the castle. I'm almost positive they'll be a few stacks of papers for me to sign." He grinned, kissing Severus on the forehead. "You be good, okay? Bye-bye."

"I be good." Severus repeated, kissing Albus on the cheek. "Bye-bye." He waved sadly.

"I'll be back tomorrow." Albus promised, taking the book from his hands to thrust it at Sirius. "Now, Sirius is going to read to you for a bit."

"Okay." Severus seemed less sad. "Bye-bye, Abus."

-00000000000000000000000000-0000000000000000

Sirius resisted the urge to curse, and sat down on the couch. He had expected Snape to scoot away, but instead he leaned into him, looking up at him with big eyes. Sirius resisted another urge to curse, and opened the book. He didn't really have a choice now that Albus had told him he was going to read to Snape. And he didn't want to deal with a tantrum, which he knew the brat would through if he didn't get his way. It was Snape after all. Plus, the nagging fear that Albus would appear from nowhere if he didn't was eating at his brain.

"King." Snape pointed at a picture on the first page where it showed a king chasing after an oddly dressed man.

Sirius didn't answer, just started to read. The sooner the story was done, the sooner Snape would stop leaning on him.

"A long time ago, in a land far far away, A king decided to keep all the magic in the world for himself. In order to get all the magic, he needed to gather all the witches and the wizards in the world." Sirius turned the page, to show a picture of barking dogs.

"Siwius." Snape smiled as he pointed from the book to Sirius's face.

Again, Sirius ignored him. "So the king formed the Brigade of Witch-Hunters, armed with packs of wild dogs. But first, the King needed to learn to use magic, so he called for someone with magical abilities to come and teach him." Sirius cleared his throat. "No real wizards or witches ever responded, and the King was getting upset. But soon a muggle came, and pretended to be a wizard, and he offered to teach the king magic." He turned the page to show a picture of a small house. "Soon the muggle teacher demanded money and treasures for his services, and he hid all of these in his small home. Babbity, a woman who washed the king's clothes, watched and laughed at the Muggle as he pretended two twigs were actually wands. The king got very upset when he heard the woman laugh, and he demanded that the muggle help him show off his magic in front of the laughing woman to prove her wrong."

"Oh-oh." Snape whispered, his eyes wide as Sirius turned the page to show Babbity hiding in a bush.

"The muggle tried to say that he had to go out of town, and couldn't help him, but the king threatened him with the brigade of witch-hunters. He also promised that if anyone laughed during his performance, he would kill the muggle teacher." The correct word was behead, but Sirius thought that a bit graphic, even for Snape. "The muggle headed to Babbitty's house and spied on her, finding out she was a real witch. He begged her to help him, or else he would tell everyone she was a witch. So Babbity agreed to help the poor Muggle. She told him she would hide in the bushed, and make it seem as if the king himself could do magic." Sirius turned the page to show a picture of the king trying to do magic. "While the king was performing, the crowd was astonished when made a hat disappear and horse levitate. One of the members was so amazed, he begged the king to bring his dead dog back to life."

"No can do." Snape insisted sadly.

"The crowd laughed at the kind tried, and Babbity could do nothing, because no magic can raise the dead. The king was angry, and demanded to know why the spell wouldn't work. The muggle panicked and pointed to the bush. "A wicked witch is blocking your spell!" He cried out." He turned the page to show a picture of a tree with dogs barking up at it. "Babbity ran from the bush and when the hounds chased after her she disappeared, leaving the dogs barking at the tree. The muggle insisted that Babbitty turned into a tree, and that she must be cut down as she was evil. The crowd went wild and chopped the tree down. And as the crowd left, the stump started to cackle."

"Twee laughs?" Snape asked, leaning closer to get a better look at the book.

"Babbity told the crowd that real wizards and witches simply could not be cut in half, and that they should cut the muggle in half to prove it."

"Oh no!" Snape cried out, fear on his face.

"But the muggle confessed he was a liar, and Babbity tells the crowd that the king is cursed, and he'll feel pain every time a witch or wizard is harmed. So the king proclaimed that no witches or wizards should even be harmed. Babbity then demanded they make a statue of her, to remind everyone of what the King decreed." He turned to the last page, where a picture showed the statue of gold on the stump. "The statue was made of gold, and soon after an old rabbit appeared out of the hole in the stump with a wand in its mouth. You see, Babbity had been in her animagus for. Smiling she left the kingdom, and forever after, the statue of Babbity remained on the stump, and no witch or wizard was ever hurt again in that kingdom." He closed the book, relieved it was finally over.

"Thank you, Siwius." Snape smiled, wrapping his arms around his neck in a hug.

"Sirius!" Remus's voice called out from the kitchen, and Snape immediately froze and hid his face in Sirius's robes.

"In here!" He called out, trying his best to untangle himself from Snape. He was almost certain the man was crying, as his body shook.

"Ummm?" Remus raised a brow at the scene as he walked into the living room, and Sirius could hardly blame him. "What's...?"

"Snape's in a toddler's mind...I'm watching him for Dumbledore." Sirius explained, sighing as Snape's wails increased. "Dumbledore said he didn't like loud noises."

"Oh!" Remus hurried over and rested a hand on Snape's heaving back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He muttered. "My name is Remus...can you tell me yours?"

Sirius rubbed at Snape's back, hoping to shut him up. Eventually, Snape looked up at Remus. "Weumus? I Sevewus...you no puppy." He added, wiping at his tear stained cheeks.

"Well hi, Severus." Remus smiled widely. "And no..I'm not a puppy?" He nodded, looking at Sirius for an answer.

"I think that's how he asks if someone is an animagus or not." He explained, almost reflexively pulling the thumb out of Snape's mouth.

"I see...well, have you two eaten yet?" Remus asked, clearly starving.

-00000000000000000000000-000000000000000

Severus sat at the kitchen table and stared at the food in front of him, too scared to eat. He was very hungry, but no one had given him permission to eat yet. Sirius and Remus were already eating, and he frowned. He wanted to eat too...

"Eat up." Sirius insisted finally, handing him a fork.

Severus nodded and started to eat. He devoured his yummy lasagna in minutes, and he was nibbling at his garlic bread happily when Remus came and put a huge piece of chocolate cake on his plate. He immediately abandoned the bread and dug in, forgetting he was supposed to use silverware.

-oooooooooooooooo-

Sirius had looked up to see Snape coated with chocolate and red sauce. How he had managed to get the mess everywhere was beyond him, and clearly more of it had got on Snape's face than his stomach. But he couldn't help but smirk along with Remus. The sight of the normally dignified Snape in such a state was a riot.

"Dammit, Remus." Sirius smirked. "Get a camera."

"Already got it." Remus waved the camera he had summoned before snapping a picture of Snape, who had somehow managed to get ahold of a second piece of cake.

"I like cake..." Severus said, liking the chocolate of his fingers.

"Obviously." Sirius nodded, fighting back the urge to launch into hysterics.

"Padfoot...in all seriousness though...it is late." Remus gestured at the clock. It was nearly 9 p.m. "And he should be cleaned up."

"You're right." Sirius shot his friend a look. "And you'll be helping me seeing as 'this'" He gestured at Snape. "Is your fault."

"Come on." Sirius ordered, waiting for Snape to come to his side. Much to his chagrin, Snape lifted his arms up again. Sirius didn't much feel like having cake and sauce all over his face. "Come on, you're a big boy." He pleaded, relieved when Remus held his own arms out for the toddler.

"Want Siwius..." He whined, sounding close to tears as he wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist. Sighing he lifted the toddler, grimacing when he felt the mess from Snape's fingers being pressed into his hair and clothes. He was not looking forward to this...to any of this, but especially the bathing.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alrighty then, the tub is full." Remus removed his hand from the water. "And not too warm and not too cold." The wolf stood and grabbed some toilet paper, transfiguring them into a few bath toys and throwing them into the bubbly water.

Sirius nodded and sat on the toilet, shifting Snape to his lap. "Lift your arms." He ordered.

"Awms up?" Snape asked, raising them as he spoke.

Sirius nodded and pulled off the black shirt, gasping audibly along with Remus at the sight before them. Numerous scars and bruises, both old and new, decorated his back and front. As it was a fresh one on his chest had clearly not been looked at nor healed.

"Sewerus's owies." Snape explained, poking at a scar on his shoulder. "He be bad sometimes..." He blushed guiltily.

"I'm sure he isn't bad." Remus answered, kneeling down in front of Snape. "Let Remus fix that one up for you, okay?"

"No..no bad spell?" Snape looked terrified, and Sirius wrapped his arms around the waist.

"No, no, no...good spell." Remus promised. "Though it might sting just a little bit."

Snape whimpered, but squeezed his eyes shut. He was still as Remus worked, surprising Sirius. What toddler didn't scream when they were being healed, even when it didn't hurt?

"Alllll done." Remus smiled, ruffling Snape's hair.

"Allllll done?" Snape asked Sirius, his eyes filled with tears as he looked fearfully at Remus's wand until he tucked it away.

"Yes." Sirius nodded, standing Severus up. "Good boy." He said awkwardly, undoing the buttons on Snape's bottom. He had dropped the bottoms without any trouble, but when he made a move to undo the boxers, Snape whimpered again.

"No...no towch?"

Sirius felt his face flush hot with anger and embarrassment, before it turned cool with dread. He forced the question out. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I no tell...I gewt into twouble too." He stared down at the ground, looking guilty.

Sirius shook his head. "No...Remus and I aren't going to touch you..." He promised. "All we want to do is give you a bath."

"NO! NO BATH!" Snape suddenly jerked away, falling to the floor as he tripped himself in his pants. He landed with a thud before sitting up, wailing. "I BEED GOOD!" He cried, scooting away from both he and Remus. "No bath! NO under! Pwease!"

"Severus...no...we're not going to put you under the water." Remus assured, grabbing the man and standing him up. "It's fine, I promise." Remus insisted as Snape kicked and screamed. Sirius rushed forward and pulled the bottoms from his ankles, the boots and socks came along with it.

"Remus...put him in."

"Sirius- he's terrified." Remus gasped.

"I can tell." He snapped. "Just put him in, he'll calm down once he realized we're not trying to kill him!"

Remus looked exasperated but did as Sirius ordered. As soon as Snape touched the water though, the howling increased to banshee level and it took both he and Remus to hold Snape in the tub.

Fifteen minutes later and Snape finally calmed down enough to the point where Remus was able to fall back unto the toilet lid exhaustedly. Soaked as well, Sirius tried to pull away only for Snape to cling to him. Finally he had to resort to letting Snape hold one of his hands. "You want to come and help me, Remus?" He asked. "I only have one free hand."

"Only if he's done biting." Remus held up his well-bit hand as he sat on the other end of the tub.

"Scawy...I come out now..." Snape pleaded, his eyes big and he shook.

"No, it's not scary." Sirius promised. "She the water is nice and warm and look at these bubbles." He exclaimed, grabbing a few and placing them on his chin. Snape immediately burst into a fit of giggles.

"Abus's beard." He laughed, not even noticing when Remus started to use a washcloth on him.

"Yes." Remus laughed. "Now let me clean your face and I'll give you a beard."

"Otay."

Snape willingly allowed Remus to wash his face without complaint, and Sirius was able to place shampoo in his hair without Snape complaining. He smirked, Snape would have clean hair for once.

"Alright, lean back." He said kindly.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Snape started to kick again, his face instantly turning red once more. He managed to catch Sirius in the face before he was able to hold the arms down.

"Alright!" Sirius spoke over the yelled, realizing how terrified Snape was. "You won't go under, I promise."

Snape stilled and fearfully looked up at Sirius. "No...under?"

Sirius nodded and forced himself not to scowl. Conjuring up a cup he filled it with water. "I'm going to pour this over your head, squeeze your eyes shut, okay?"

"Okay." Snape obeyed easily, squeezing his eyes closed in a comedic manner. Rolling his eyes Sirius hurried to wash the shampoo from Snape's hair, before applying conditioner and doing the same. "You can open your eyes now." He sighed.

"Done?" Snape asked hopefully, reaching up to touch his now clean hair. "Haiw smooth." He said, shock in his voice as he smiled. "Soft!"

"Yes." Sirius nodded, grabbing bubbles and placing them on Snape's chin. "And there is your beard."

Snape laughed, and when Remus tickled him under the chin he laughed all the harder and scooted closer to Sirius who tickled him as well. The two continued to tickle his chin as he scooted from side to side, until he realized he was relatively safe in the middle of the large tub. Grinning Sirius stood, and held his arms out. "Come on, let's get you into some pajamas."

Snape frowned a bit, but nodded, allowed Sirius help him out of the tub. He quickly wrapped a large towel around his body, while Remus dried up his hair. As soon as Remus finished he left to grab some pajamas from Snape's room while Sirius held the towel-clad Severus in his lap on the toilet.

"Allright." Remus smiled, coming in with a pair of brown pajamas and pair of maroon ones. "It seems Dumbledore has neglected to leave us much of anything black." He held them up in front of Snape as Sirius smirked. "Which ones would you like, Severus?"

"Wed!" Snape insisted, lifting his arms up to let Remus lower the top. Sirius buttoned the buttons before standing Snape up and removing the towel. He gasped, making Remus lean over to see. A huge red rash was spread all about Snape's bottom area and lower back...looking similar to the diaper rash Harry used to get when he was little.

"Heat rash." Remus said knowingly, using his wand to heal the skin. "And it's no wonder what with the layers he wears." He gestured at the floor, where robes, a sweater, and a long sleeve shirt lay.

Sirius nodded and carefully guided Snape's legs into a pair of boxers and his pajama bottoms, before pulling them up and lifting Snape to his hip. "Alright, bedtime." He said firmly, carrying Snape to his bedroom. Activating the nightlight, Sirius carefully lay Snape down in his crib and took care to make sure he was tucked in and comfortable. Snape for the most part had been silent during this, but when Sirius was about to raise the bars on the crib, Snape spoke up.

"Stowy?" He asked, rubbing his eyes with his fists. "Pwease?"

Sirius sighed and yanked a book from the shelf. Goldilocks..who the hell was that? Shaking his head he slumped down on the Snape's bed, Remus sitting beside him as he launched into an absurd tale about talking bears who weren't at all upset enough that someone had broken into their home. He was halfway through, when thankfully, he heard snoring. Standing up with Remus he lifted the bars of the crib before silently leaving the room, taking care to make sure that the door was left open a crack.


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius sighed and yanked a book from the shelf. Goldilocks..who the hell was that? Shaking his head he slumped down on the Snape's bed, Remus sitting beside him as he launched into an absurd tale about talking bears who weren't at all upset enough that someone had broken into their home. He was halfway through, when thankfully, he heard snoring. Standing up with Remus he lifted the bars of the crib before silently leaving the room, taking care to make sure that the door was left open a crack.

-0000000000000000000000-00000000

Severus woke and whimpered. He had had a dream. A bad dream. A very bad dream. He whimpered and stood up, crying hard. A bad with red eyes was angry at him, and he hurt his arm- his left arm, with that weird looking owie. He winced as the pain increased, and started to cry louder. Sirius would probably be mad at him, but he couldn't help it. That man with red eyes was scary, and Severus was afraid he'd come and appear in his rooms. He sat down and bawled, not noticing that both Sirius and Remus were there until Sirius had lifted him up. "Bad snake mannnnnn." He sobbed into Sirius's shoulder. "Make arm owie huwt!"

Sirius rubbed his back and sat down on his bed, and Remus sat down too and pulled up his pajama sleeve. Remus pointed at his owie. "Is this what hurts?" He asked.

Severus nodded and clung unto Sirius. "Owie..."

"Yes, I'm sure it does hurt." Sirius agreed, hugging him tightly. "But maybe Remus can go and make some juice for you that will take the pain away."

Severus didn't reply, he just wailed loudly. His eyes were scrunched up tightly until he felt Sirius pressing something into his hands. He opened them cautiously and was surprised to see a stuffed lion in them. He was soft and warm.

"For you." Sirius said, smiling. "Lions are big and brave, and he'll help you with your nightmares."

"Lion for me?" Severus asked, clutching it tightly. It didn't take the owie away, but it did make him feel a little better.

Sirius nodded. "Why don't you think of a name hmmm?" Sirius asked.

Severus scrunched up his face, his focus not all on his pain. "Fuzzy..." He decided, snuggling into Sirius as he cuddled the lion.

Sirius nodded like he liked the name and Severus sniffled. He was wiping his eyes when Remus came back with a cup.

"Hey." Remus smiled widely. "Did you get a lion?" He asked, looking as surprised as Severus had felt when he had got the lion.

"Lion name Fuzzy." Severus explained, holding his lion close to his face.

"I bet he is." Remus nodded knowingly. "Now, Severus. I brought you a drink that will take your owie away and give you good dreams." Remus explained slowly. "It might not taste as good as chocolate cake, but it'll make you feel better."

"Not dwink." Severus explained. "Is potions." He corrected, swallowing the icky liquid. "Icky potions." Remus and Sirius laughed. "Here." Remus handed him another cup- but this one was full of water so he didn't hesitate to drink it down quickly. Relieved, and feeling really, really really tired he closed his eyes.

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Sirius smirked at the toddler/man now asleep in his arms. Carefully he hefted the man back into his cot, taking care to tuck him back in and place Fuzzy the lion back under his arm. Lifting up the bars he followed Remus back downstairs into the kitchen.

"A lion...really?" Remus smirked, helping himself to a glass of milk and looking as it were the greatest thing in the world.

"Of course." Sirius grinned. "What else would it be?"

"I assume you'll be wanting pictures?" Remus laughed, brandishing the camera.

"But, of course." Sirius agreed, yawning. "Wouldn't want to miss the chance to shove it in Severus's face that he got attached to a lion."

Remus gave him a look- the look that meant he was about to go on a lecture. "I think he already has Sirius." He said pointedly.

"Well that's fine and dandy for him, but don't you think I'm going to become attached." Sirius insisted. There simply was no way. No way in hell.

"If you say so, but I think you al-"

Sirius glared at him lightly. "Don't you dare finish that sentence." He scowled. "And besides, this is different. This is toddler Snape...not Snape Snape."

Remus only rolled his eyes. "Fine. But maybe toddler Snape would feel more comfortable if he called him Severus?"

"Fine." Sirius knew Remus was right. And it really was odd to call a two-and-a-half year old by their last name. "You're right about that at least."

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"Severus..." Sirius tried out the name as he roused the sleeping toddler. "Severus..."

"Siwius?" Severus asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Sirius nodded and smiled. "Come on, let's get you dressed so we can go and get some breakfast."

"I gewt mowe food?" Severus asked groggily, looking as if having more than one meal was a special treat. Sirius's gut twisted up.

"Of course, silly." He smiled, going to the wardrobe to peek inside. "What color do you want to wear today?" He asked.

"Wear jamas?" Severus asked, still half-asleep.

Sirius shook his head. "No, but you can chose your pajamas tonight too." At Severus's frown Sirius smirked. "You can still pick your color for today too."

Severus smiled widely. "Bwue."

Sirius nodded and dressed the man, who seemed very eager to help. It took a bit longer, but Sirius allowed the independence and was almost proud at how clever Severus seemed before he reminded himself that he had nothing at all to do with that. "Let's get some breakfast now, Remus made waffles."

"Waffles?" Severus jumped up on his mattress with Fuzzy still in his arms, before launching himself in Sirius's arms. He nearly dropped the the toddler, but managed to get ahold of him before falling to the ground.

"Yes." Sirius nodded, hurrying down the steps as he was starving as well.

"Morning Wemus!" Severus smiled, waving with the arm that held Fuzzy.

"Good morning!" Remus grinned. "Why don't you and Fuzzy have a seat while I get you some waffles, hmmm?"

"But Wemus and Siwius eat tooo?" Severus insisted, as if he had been told otherwise.

"Of course we are." Remus soothed. "But we're just going to get you a plate first."

"Me fiwst?" Severus asked, amazed at the prospect as Sirius carried him into the dining room. He was about to seat Severus when Severus refused to release him. "I sit on lap, Siwius." He insisted. Sirius sighed and sat down with the toddler in his laps. Perhaps this way he would be able to keep the mess down to a minimum...there was plus side to everything, right?

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Sirius gave a grateful smile as Remus wiped Severus's face and fingers clean. As much as Sirius had tried to direct the fork, Severus had refused to be helped- resulting in a still messy breakfast. Though it hadn't been as bad as the supper debacle last night.

"There, Severus is nice and clean." Remus smiled. "Now why don't we go into the living room and see if we can get him playing."

"Pwaying?" Severus looked excited. "I never get pway."

"You do now." Sirius promised, carrying him into the living room. He set Severus on the floor and and together he and Remus spelled up what toys they could. While there was a toy chest upstairs, Sirius didn't much feel like going to get it only to have to move it back. It was much more practical to have one chest for upstairs and one for the living room. Severus's eyes got wider and wider by the moment, and he clutched at Fuzzy with nervous excitement. Sirius smirked as he and Remus sat next to Severus, Severus immediately crawling into Sirius's lap. "Don't you want to play with all your toys?" Sirius asked.

"All my toys?" Severus asked confused.

Sirius nodded. "All of them." He insisted.

"You pway blocks with me?" He asked, looking at both Sirius and Remus.

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"Wow...that is a very nice tower." Sirius applauded as Severus placed a pink block atop a stack of four white ones.

Albus had quietly made his way into the Grimmauld place and had made his way undetected to the living room doorway where he smiled as he watched the scene in front of him. He hadn't expected such a sight, at least not right away.

"And lellow one here." Severus nodded, acting serious as he placed a yellow triangle atop the tower.

"Yes, I do think yellow was a great choice." Remus nodded. "Now what?"

"Put purple bwock there." Severus explained, placing a purple rhombus beside the whole thing.

"Ah, yes purple." Albus smiled, walking into the room. "I do enjoy that color."

"Abus!" Severus grinned, leaping off Sirius's lap to wrap his arms around him in a big hug. It was then that Albus noticed the addition to Severus's arms.

"Did you get a lion, Severus?" He asked, smirking at the thought of Severus cuddling with a lion of all things.

"Yes, he name Fuzzy and he keep bad snake man dream away..."

Albus frowned slightly. "Did you have a nightmare?" He asked.

Severus nodded. "Scawy and awm owie huwt but Wemus give me potion and it go bye bye." Severus explained, before whispering anything but quietly. "But Wemus thinks it was juice not potion. He silly."

Albus laughed along with Sirius as he walked over to sit on the couch. "I'm glad you're having so much fun, Severus." He was still grinning as Severus climbed back into Sirius's lap. "Did you have a good breakfast?"

"Wemus made waffles!" Severus yelled happily at the memory. "Sewius let me sit in his lap."

"I see that." Albus grinned, reaching over to pat Severus on the head. He smiled all the wider when he noticed the clean hair. "Sirius, thank you very much. I am very proud of you." He praised. "And thank you as well Remus." He smiled once more as Sirius handed Severus a pink block. "I'm sorry to drop by unannounced, but this really is the only time I could make it."

Sirius shrugged. "It's not a problem. It's time for Severus to nap though."

"But I no nap...I beed good." Severus argued, pouting up at Sirius who refused to be swayed by the puppy eyes.

"Yes. You have been good. Very good." Sirius smiled. "And I expect you to continue to be good."

"But I beed good."

"This isn't a punishment, Severus." Sirius assured, rubbing Severus's back.

"But me not tiwed..." He tried, his Slytherin traits clearly coming into play.

"No, but I like Fuzzy is." Sirius suggested. "And I think he'd like it if you'd lay down with him when he napped."

Severus nodded forlornly. "Can I sweep on cowch so I cwose by you?"

Sirius nodded, and Albus watched as Sirius seemed to effortlessly parent. "Yes, you can."

Severus looked over at Albus then. "Can I stway up wif Awbus?" He asked, looking longingly up at Albus. He had to fight the urge to scoop him up into his arms.

"I'll come again." Albus promised. "When it's not nap time, and we'll have plenty of time to play." He smiled and kneeled next to a yawning Severus. "Why don't I read you a story to you and Fuzzy so you can fall asleep easier?"

Severus nodded, still sad but no longer forlorn. Sirius stood up with Severus in his arms, and Albus conjured up pillows and blankets from nowhere- amusing Severus too no end. "Woah..." He whispered, as Sirius lowered him onto the couch and tucked him in, taking care to make sure Fuzzy was under his arm before he ruffled his hair.

"Alright, Albus is going to read you little red riding hood." Albus smiled, sitting on the floor in front of the couch so Severus could stare down at the pictures.

"Abus..me like when you wead..you do voices..." Severus yawned, already half-asleep before Albus had read more than a few pages. "Teach Siwius to do?" He asked, falling asleep seconds later.


	4. Chapter 4

Severus looked over at Albus then. "Can I stway up wif Awbus?" He asked, looking longingly up at Albus. He had to fight the urge to scoop him up into his arms.

"I'll come again." Albus promised. "When it's not nap time, and we'll have plenty of time to play." He smiled and kneeled next to a yawning Severus. "Why don't I read you a story to you and Fuzzy so you can fall asleep easier?"

Severus nodded, still sad but no longer forlorn. Sirius stood up with Severus in his arms, and Albus conjured up pillows and blankets from nowhere- amusing Severus too no end. "Woah..." He whispered, as Sirius lowered him onto the couch and tucked him in, taking care to make sure Fuzzy was under his arm before he ruffled his hair.

"Alright, Albus is going to read you little red riding hood." Albus smiled, sitting on the floor in front of the couch so Severus could stare down at the pictures.

"Abus..me like when you wead..you do voices..." Severus yawned, already half-asleep before Albus had read more than a few pages. "Teach Siwius to do?" He asked, falling asleep seconds later.

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Once all the adults were sure Severus was asleep, they started to discuss the various things that called for discussion.

"Any luck yet?" Sirius asked, knowing full-well that he hadn't as the headmaster had said he'd come on a later day when Severus wasn't napping.

"I'm afraid the date for my finding a cure will be closer to a week." Albus smiled apologetically. "But things here do seem to be going well, so it shouldn't be that hard."

Sirius nodded, surprised he didn't want to scowl. "Could you find a way to inform Voldemort that his spy is out of commission so he stops terrorizing Severus?"

"I'll be sure to do so." Albus nodded. "Wouldn't want him having any more night terrors."

"Why is he so afraid of everything, Albus?" Sirius demanded, fearing he already knew the answer.

"Sirius," Albus's face was grave, "I'm sure you've been able to piece together that Severus was abused."

Guilt...tons of guilt. Sirius had made Snape's life a living hell at school...the place that Snape probably thought of as home...the one place where Snape should have been safe. He felt like a complete ass. No wonder Snape was the way he was.

"Sirius, you can't undo the past...but you can do something about the future." Dumbledore said knowingly.

He nodded, resolving to make this next week the best that he could. If anything, it would serve to ease his guilt...at least a bit. And if at the end of the week, Snape didn't believe him, well Sirius would deserve that...

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"But why Abus go bye- bye?" Severus asked Sirius, as Remus started to prepare some lunch.

"Albus had work to do, remember?" Sirius asked gently, using his hand to smooth down Severus's nap-hair.

"But he say he come when it not nap time." Severus insisted, hurt in his eyes. "It not nap time now."

Well...he wasn't wrong...not exactly. "No, its not nap time. But there it a lot of the day that isn't nap time." Sirius explained slowly. "You'll just have to wait. I'm sure he'll visit again soon. He might even bring Fawkes."

"But...I want see Abus..." Severus's bottom lip poked out, and Sirius sighed. "He come for lunch?"

"Severus, Albus is very busy." Sirius tried again.

"But you make me nap..." Severus accused angrily and sadly. "And now Abus is bye bye..." He looked almost betrayed.

"Severus, Albus will be back again." Sirius assured. "You'll just have to be patient, like a good boy."

"Me always good." Severus said smugly, holding Fuzzy closely.

"Good." Sirius said sincerely. Thankful the the terrible two's didn't seem to be applying to Severus. "Now let's go see if lunch is ready." He held out his hands but Severus shook his head.

"No, me walk. Me a big boy." He insisted, proving his point by walking confidently into the kitchen with Sirius at his heels.

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Remus smiled as Severus sauntered into the kitchen by himself, glad to see that he was becoming comfortable enough to show his independence. "Did you have nice nap?" He asked as Severus sat in his own chair.

"Me sleep on cowch." Was the reply, as Severus sat Fuzzy in his lap.

Remus yawned. "Yes, maybe after lunch Remus needs a nap too. He's going to have a long night tonight." Damn full-moon.

"Want nap with Fuzzy?" Severus asked. "No bad dreams?"

Remus chuckled, if only it were that easy. "Sure." He grinned. "That's very nice of you to offer."

"Me nice?" Severus asked, looking surprised.

"Of course you are." Sirius insisted, seating himself beside Severus. "Very nice."

"And very good." Remus added, placing a sandwich in front of each of them before sitting down himself.

"Me no bad?" Severus asked, looking confused at the concept.

"No. You are good." They both insisted.

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"Can you keep an eye on him?" Sirius asked Remus, who was laying on the couch covered in a blanket. "I want to go and talk to Harry...see if he's ready to move in next month."

Remus nodded, stifling a yawn. He knew his mate was tired, but Sirius knew that Severus would behave. The only reason he asked was that it was something a responsible adult would do. He was sure Remus's falling asleep wouldn't be a problem should it happen.

"I'll be right back." He told Remus and Severus, the later who was so engrossed in stacking his blocks that he barely bothered to nod. "Be good." He added, already out of the room.

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One Hour Later

Severus had just finished putting his blocks away as he was done playing with them, and was looking for something else to occupy himself with. He didn't want to wake up Remus when he looked so tired, so he couldn't play ball because Sirius was somewhere else. He could always explore the house...he hadn't really had a chance to do that yet. Standing up, he made sure Fuzzy will still tucked beneath Remus's arms before he headed out of the living room. This house wasn't like his old house where his mum and dad lived...this house was happier and even better- it had Sirius and Remus. Which was the best part. He walked until he found himself in a parlour, and a study, but those were boring so he decided to head up the creaky steps. There was so many rooms! He poked his head into each one, but nothing really struck him. He frowned heavily, before deciding to walk into one more room. He was more than happy when he did. This room was full of toys too. They looked old, but still they had to be fun or else why would they be in there? His eyes were drawn to a purple container and he grabbed it and sat on the floor. He was struggling to open it when, the door flew open.

"Severus!"

Why did Remus and Sirius look so upset? He hadn't done anything naughty.

"Severus. Do. Not. Open. That." Sirius's voice was sharp, like Severus had never heard before and he frowned heavily. Was Sirius going to hit him?

"Why?" He asked, opening the lid to see for himself.

Bad idea, nothing scary popped out, but Sirius stomped forward and yanked him upright. Severus whimpered, not knowing what was going to happen and dropped the container as Sirius lead him down the steps and into the living room. Sirius was angry, and Severus cried. Remus looked angry too. He wiped at his eyes when he felt a sharp slap on his bottom, and then another and another and another and another. He yelped and cried louder, and when Sirius lifted him up and sat him down in a corner facing the wall he cried even louder. Sirius was angry...and he didn't like him anymore.

"You are going to sit there for five minutes, Severus." Sirius scolded. "No talking or moving or I'll start the time again. You're sitting because I told you not to open that container and you did anyway."

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"I locked that door." Sirius muttered, feeling relieved that the poison powder in that urn hadn't shot out like the rest had. Why hadn't he gotten around to vanishing those things? Fucking idiot.

"Maybe Kreacher opened it..." Remus suggested, his face also a mixture of relief and anxiety. "I should have been watching him...I'm sorry."

Sirius shook his head. "No...we both expected him to stay with his blocks...and we shouldn't have...he's not even three." He frowned heavily, resisting the urge to go and hug the wailing man. "I didn't think he'd just...disobey me like that. He opened the container right after I told him not too."

"I didn't either." Remus agreed. "But I don't think he did it to be a brat...I think he just wanted to know what was in there...it doesn't make it okay, but I don't think it was outright defiance."

Sirius nodded, he didn't think so either. "After we talk with him, we're vanishing everything in that room." He said firmly. "The minute after."

"Sirius...don't beat yourself up. You did the right thing." Remus assured, noticing how upset Sirius was.

"You don't think a spanking and a timeout was too much?" Sirius asked, guilt building up as Severus's howling had yet to decrease.

"That was hardly a spanking, Sirius. And no, I don't think it was too much. Had it been me, he'd have gotten a real spanking."

"He should count himself lucky then that I reached him first." Sirius joked lightly, noticing that five minutes had already passed. "Come on, it's been five minutes.

Sirius kneeled one side of the hysterical Severus, while Remus kneeled on the other. The boy was rigid and stiff, and when Severus noticed them he tensed up all the more. Sirius sighed, and put a hand on Severus's shoulder. Severus flinched and appeared to try and quiet himself, but it was futile. "Severus, it's okay to cry." He promised, keeping his tone even. "Come on now, turn around and look at me."

Severus only gave a slight hesitation before he turned to stare up at Sirius with watery eyes and a red face. He seemed to be terrified and heartbroken at the same time, and Sirius quickly wrapped him in a tight hug before starting a lecture. "Why did I punish you, Severus?"

"Me bad..." Severus whimpered in a small voice.

"No." Sirius shook his head. "You are not bad. Try and remember, why did I punish you? What did I say?"

"Me sit in corner because me didn't listen when Siwius said no open..." Severus answered, his voice wavering. "Me not try not to listen...only want to look and see why..."

Sirius nodded. "And are you sorry?" He prodded.

"Me vewy sowwy." Severus insisted, bursting into hysterical sobs again. "Me no twy and make Siwius and Wemus angwy and hate me..."

"Severus," Sirius pulled the toddler unto his lap and hugged him tightly, "Remus and I do not hate you." He insisted firmly.

"Sirius and Remus were upset with you, but we don't hate you. We punish you because we don't ever want you to repeat your mistakes." Remus added, rubbing Severus back.

"No bad wand spell yet...No cane yet..." Severus seemed to be anticipating a beating.

"You are never going to be punished with a spell or a cane...only a timeout- or a spanking if you're really naughty." Sirius assured, using his sleeve to wipe Severus's face.

"No spank...no timeout...I be good." Severus insisted, broken-hearted. "No hate me..."

"NO, no no. We don't hate you." Sirius insisted. "I love you, even when I punish you." Sirius hadn't realized what he said until Remus's eyes widened, but he didn't take the words back.

"And I love you too." Remus added, as Severus buried his head into Sirius's chest.

"Me love you too." Severus insisted. "Me sowwy..."


	5. Chapter 5

"And I love you too." Remus added, as Severus buried his head into Sirius's chest.

"Me love you too." Severus insisted. "Me sowwy..."

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"There." Sirius said, finishing up wiping Severus's face dry. "That's better.'

Severus nodded, leaning heavily into Sirius. "Me sowwy." He repeated again, looking at Remus as well.

"We know." Sirius assured. "We forgive you."

"No mad?"

"No, we're not mad." Remus assured, handing Fuzzy over to Severus who clutched it tightly.

"In fact, I was thinking we could go for a little walk outside..." Sirius smiled as Severus's face lit up.

"Outside? But me bad..."

Sirius sighed. "Look at me." He waited until Severus looked up. "You are not bad. In fact, you are a really good boy. You just behaved badly, but that's behind us." He waited until he got a nod in confirmation before hugging the toddler. "Now come on, let's go outside for some fresh air."

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Two days later

"Abus! Abus! Abus!" Sirius could barely say his own hello to the headmaster before Severus threw himself into the headmaster's arms.

"Severus!" Albus grinned, kissing his forehead. "How have you been?"

"Me be naughty..." Severus immediately started to frown.

"Oh?" Sirius could hardly blame Albus for his surprise, he hadn't been expected the disobedience either. But he had thought they had put that behind them.

"Me open flask when Siwius say no...I get time out and spanking."

Albus's smile was gone and for a second Sirius was afraid he'd scold him for disciplining Severus. "And what did you learn?" Albus drilled, not letting Severus bury his face in his robes.

"Me listen to Siwius and Wemus no mattew what." He said solemnly, "And that Siwius and Wemus love me."

The grin was back. "I'm sure they do, child."

"Me love them too. And you." Severus insisted resting his head on Albus's shoulder.

"You are such a good child." Albus applauded, sitting down on the couch with Severus in his lap. "And how is Fuzzy?"

"Fuzzy good! He sweep with Wemus when Wemus napped."

At Albus's quizzical look Sirius smirked. "Full moon." He explained.

"Ah." Albus nodded, before settling Severus down on the carpet. "Severus, can you draw Albus a picture while he talks with Sirius?"

"Me dwaw!" Severus nodded, already grabbing a purple crayon from the box on the floor. "Abus like puwple..." He said knowingly.

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"Sirius, I've been thinking. It would be easier to manage him if he were actually in a child's body, wouldn't it?"

Sirius had been thinking that same thing, but he had just assumed Albus had been too busy to assist him with such a magic. Remus and he couldn't do magic of that scale, and then again, it was only going to be like this for a few more days. Albus was bound to have the cure soon. It had been a week, nearly. "Well, yes. But if you're too busy-"

"Sirius, I'll be honest, it might be another week or so. I really am trying but..." Albus trailed off, smiling down at Severus who was still working on his art. "I think that being the case, I should put him a child's body..."

Sirius nodded. "Do you want me to hold him still while you do it?"

Albus shook his head. "No, it'll be easier just to wait until he's napping. It is his nap time soon, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded as Severus yawned. "Oh yeah. I think it's naptime." He stood up. "Up." He ordered, lifted Severus to the couch. Immediately the man looked upset.

"Naptime and Abus leave...?" The eyes were getting wet as Sirius lay him on the couch, resting his head on a pillow in Albus's lap.

"No...this time I will be here when you wake up." Albus promised, helping to tuck Severus in. "Now, close your eyes like a good boy."

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Sirius watched as Albus worked his magic. It hadn't taken long for Severus to fall asleep, and as soon as Sirius and Albus were both sure he was asleep Albus had gone on. Remus, who normally would be down there with them, was in a dead sleep- exhausted from the strenuous events of the full moon. It was a gradual process, every few minutes Severus seemed to lost an inch and the features of his face became younger. It was such a slow process, that Albus had barely finished before Severus opened his eyes and smiled.

"Abus still hewe." He squealed, sitting up to kiss Albus's cheek when the man lowered his face.

"I am." Albus nodded. "How do you feel, Severus?"

"Me feel good." Severus nodded. "No tiwed no mowe. Fuzzy no tiwed either."

"Well look at you." Sirius smiled, lifting Severus in the air away from his body to get a good look. For two and a half, he was positively tiny and runty. The nose was no longer hooked, and Sirius couldn't help but wonder if that was due to the fact that no one had broken it. The skin was pale, making the large black eyes look even bigger. Even as a child he had a somber look, but now he was adorable.

"Me leg huwt..." Severus said all of a sudden, frowning heavily.

"Your leg? Let me see." Sirius sat down on the couch, carefully pulling up the trouser legs to reveal a very swollen leg. "What happened?"

"Daddy bwoke...me bad." Severus frowned heavily. "Me cwy cause me was hungwy..."

"Severus." Sirius spoke as Albus worked to heal the leg. "You will never be hurt like that by me or Remus... or anyone." He promised, sickened that Severus seemed to think such injuries were normal. He'd never let anyone hurt his child...Severus...he'd never let anyone hurt Severus...when he was a toddler at least. After all, it wouldn't make sense for him to be getting attached...

"Pwomise?"

"I promise." Sirius assured, kissing the black hair.

"You be my daddy now?" Severus asked suddenly, causing Sirius's hurt to squeeze.

"Yes." He managed, not even annoyed at the glint in Albus's eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

"Severus." Sirius spoke as Albus worked to heal the leg. "You will never be hurt like that by me or Remus... or anyone." He promised, sickened that Severus seemed to think such injuries were normal. He'd never let anyone hurt his child...Severus...he'd never let anyone hurt Severus...when he was a toddler at least. After all, it wouldn't make sense for him to be getting attached...

"Pwomise?"

"I promise." Sirius assured, kissing the black hair.

"You be my daddy now?" Severus asked suddenly, causing Sirius's hurt to squeeze.

"Yes." He managed, not even annoyed at the glint in Albus's eyes.

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"Daddy? Whewe we go?" Severus asked, as Sirius carried him outside.

"We're going out to eat at a cafe, and then we're going to a park."

"A pawk!?" Severus yelled, his eyes widening. "A pawk?! Swings?!"

"Yes, they'll be swings." Sirius smiled, tousling the black hair.

"I nevew gewt pway at pawk...or swings..." Severus admitted, frowning. "I only pway on them once."

"Did you like them?" Sirius asked, already knowing the answer. He only wanted to change the subject.

"My fwavowite!" Severus laughed. "Whewe Abus and Wemus, Daddy?"

Sirius smiled at the term, though it had been a day since Severus started using it. It never seemed to get old. "Daddy wanted to spend the day with you... just you."

"Wif me?" Severus looked as if Sirius had just announced he wanted to spend a day with Voldemort.

"Yes, with me." Sirius laughed. "Cause I love you and you are a very good boy. You are not worthless, you are very special and important. You're kind and handsome and sweet and smart."

"Thanks Daddy!" For the first time, Severus actually looked like he believed the words Sirius had repeated daily. "Daddy all thowse too."

"You think so?" Sirius asked, poking him on the nose.

Severus nodded. "What I sayed."

Sirius was amazed at how many words Severus seemed to know, it didn't seem usual for a two and a half year old. What a smart boy. It was so sad that all these positive traits (the looks and attitude) had been beaten out of him at a young age. "You don't think Daddy looks old?"

"Daddy not old...Daddy ownly twenty."

Sirius laughed out loud at the incorrect guess. "Thank you." He chuckled. He had really needed that compliment. He had been feeling less confident since he had let Azkaban...while he had been fattening up, and cleaning himself, he couldn't help but feel down somedays. Granted he'd been having more good days than bad...he still just wasn't where he used to be. Yet.

"Alright, here we are." Sirius walked up to the cafe and looked Severus in the eyes. "Be good, okay?"

"Me always be good." Severus promised, smiling as Sirius walked into the cafe.

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"Oh my goodness! He is just adorable!" The blonde waitress gushed, smiling dopely at Severus. "Oh, you must be a proud Daddy."

Sirius blinked...they did have the same fair skin, Severus's only a bit paler. They also had the same black hair...but did they really look like father and son? "We...we look alike?"

"Oh of course he does," An elderly old lady from the table over turned to smiled, "He definitely looks like Daddy."

"Where's Mummy?" The blond waitress asked Severus. "What would she like to drink?" She asked Sirius.

"There...there is no Mummy..." Sirius admitted, giving a flirty smile at the blonde who blushed deeply.

"Oh..." She fluttered her eyelashes. "Well, what can I get you two to drink then?"

"We'll both take milk...make his chocolate please."

"I'll be right back...do you have a sippy for him?" Blondie asked.

"Oh no." Sirius said.

"No me a big boy!" Severus spoke up, a pout on his face.

"Oh, sorry." Blonde placated. "How old are you?"

"Me two and a half." Severus said smugly.

"Ah, well I'll be right back with your milk." The waitress giggled, hurrying off.

"Oh, and what is your name?" The elderly lady asked as the waitress walked off.

"Sevewus." Severus smiled.

"Pardon?"

"Severus." Sirius explained.

"Oh, what a unique name? A family name?" The lady asked.

"Yes." Sirius nodded. "A very old family name."

"Well, it's lovely." The old woman assured. "And you two make a lovely family."

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"I eated all my waffles!" Severus said proudly, as Sirius wiped his hands clear of the syrup.

"Yes you did, I'm very proud." He smiled. "You are a very good boy."

"We go pawk now?" Severus asked, already starting to make a move.

"Just a minute." Sirius pulled out his wallet and left the payment, along with a very generous tip, he also had secretly paid for the elderly woman's breakfast with the help of Blondie.

"Daddy push me on swings?"

"Of course." Sirius promised, hefting Severus to his hip. "Now say goodbye to this nice lady."

"Bye bye!"

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"Highew!" Severus yelled, cackling loudly as Sirius threw the swing high up into the air. Sirius was proud of how brave the boy was, as Severus had opted for a big boy swing and not only that, Severus demanded to go higher and higher. Horrified mothers watched and several fathers looked envious, and Sirius and Severus were both enjoying themselves. "Highew!" Sirius was beside himself with pride. He had a little lion on his hands. "Daddy, I juwmp!" Severus yelled suddenly, seconds before launching himself of the swing.

Several of the woman yelled, and Sirius yelled out a curse. He couldn't very well just whip out his wand...though he would if he had too. Thankfully Azkaban hadn't ruined his reflexed, he was able to rush forward and grab the kid before he crumpled to the ground. "Severus Tobias!" Sirius half-scolded, knowing that it was defiance rather childlike thinking that had possessed Severus to jump.

"You cawtch...but me use magic to stop befowe I hit gwound." Severus looked upset that he hadn't had the chance to use his magic.

"Severus, you can not do magic without asking. Okay?"

"Why?" Severus asked. "Mummy do bad spell..why me no use good?"

Sirius sighed. "Some people don't have magic...and it makes them sad or angry when others do it in front of them." Sirius explained. "You can use good magic, but only when I tell you that you can."

"Otay, Daddy. Me sowwy." Severus looked sincere.

"It's okay." Sirius assured, picking Severus up. "But we have to head home now, it's naptime." Sirius spoke before Severus could voice his complaint. "Remus will be there when you wake up."

"Wemus!" Severus squealed, clapping. "I go nap wight away cause I wake up and Wemus will be thewe!"

"Yes, the sooner you go to sleep the sooner you can wake up and see Remus." Sirius agreed.

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A week later

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Sirius smiled as he lay Severus down on the couch for a nap. "Severus...Daddy wants to tell you something."

"What Daddy?" Severus yawned, hugging Fuzzy.

"Daddy has a...nephew coming to stay...he'll be here after you wake up." Sirius explained, using simple terms even though he knew Severus was smart.

"He nice?"

"His name is Harry and he is very very nice." Sirius explained, hoping Harry would take easily and quickly to Severus.

"Daddy gewt rid of me and keep Hawwy?" Severus looked close to sobbing.

"No no no." Sirius assured, kissing Severus's forehead. "Daddy loves you always."

"Me love you always." Severus promised.

"Harry is going to be staying here, so you need to be good...like you always are." Sirius smirked, picking up a book to start reading Severus to sleep.

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"Severus, this is Harry." Sirius explained, holding the child as he woke up.

"Hi Hawwy, me Sevewus..." Severus waved with a small hand. "Me two and a half..."

"Hey there!" Harry smiled widely, making Sirius extremely proud. "I'm Harry. I'm fifteen."

"You pway games?" Severus asked, waking up more and more.

"Sure I do! I like quidditch best."

"I pway broom qwidditch wiff you?" Severus asked hopefully.

"Maybe later." Sirius promised, already having had planned to get Severus on a broom even before Harry had arrived. "But why don't we play something together so Harry can unwind?"

"I don't mind." Harry promised Sirius, before settling down on the carpet next to Severus's toy chest. "Do you want to play, Severus?"

"Yes!" Severus jumped from Sirius's lap to crawl into Harry's. "We pway bwocks!?"

"Sure!" Harry agreed, removing the blocks. Severus had already had several towers going when Harry finally finished removing them all. Sirius smirked at the sight, and sat back on his couch to enjoy a nice cup of coffee. Remus sat beside him, wearing his own look of amusement.

"You got a picture?" Sirius whispered to Remus.

"Of course." Remus grinned, Gryffindor mischief on his face.

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"Hawwy wike bwue?" Severus asked.

"Yes, I like blue." Harry nodded, smiling at the cute toddler and hardly able to believe it was Snape.

"I wike Wed and bwue..." Severus explained, grabbing a yellow block from Harry's hand.

"You like red?" Harry teased. "That's a Gryffindor color!"

"So?" Severus demanded. "Daddy a Gwyffindor!"

Harry gave Sirius a look and smirked when his godfather shrugged. "Yes, Yes he is."

"Hawwy Gwffindor?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I am a Gryffindor."

"You a lion." Severus declared simply, scrunching his face up. "Woaw!"

Harry had to fight back a laugh at the hilarious impression of a lion. Sirius and Remus clearly were fighting the urge to laugh also.

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Harry had been walking through the house, while lifting Severus over his head in a superman fashion, when he heard the distinctive sound of the floo. He made his way back down the steps at into the living room and smiled at Dumbledore. "Hello, headmaster."

"Hello Harry!" The elderly man smiled widely, and Harry struggled to keep a grip on Severus who seemed desperate to be freed. Quickly Harry settled him on the floor so the toddler could run and jump into Dumbledore's arms.

"Abus! Hawwy hewe!" The toddler yelled, pointing over at where Harry had seated himself on the couch beside Sirius. "He a lion!"

"Indeed he is..." The headmaster shook his head. "I do think the sorting hat sorts too soon, perhaps you should have been a lion too." Dumbledore was speaking softly to Severus, but Harry could still make out the words.


	7. Chapter 7

"Indeed he is..." The headmaster shook his head. "I do think the sorting hat sorts too soon, perhaps you should have been a lion too." Dumbledore was speaking softly to Severus, but Harry could still make out the words.

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Sirius had been relaxing in the kitchen with Remus and Albus, enjoying a nice cup of tea as Albus briefed him on the progress of the cure...or in this case the lack thereof.

"Another week. Just one more and I am almost certain I can figure this out." Albus promised. "It's just that it's taken this long alone to decipher the notes he wrote."

Sirius nodded. "It's fine." And really it was. It was actually more than fine, but he was never going to admit that to Albus.

"I'm glad to hear that all is going so 'fine." Albus smirked, adding another scoop of sugar to his tea. "I'm even happier to see that Harry is getting on so well with-"

"DADDY!"

Sirius nearly dropped his cup when Severus wailed out for him; he had been ready to run into the kitchen when Harry came in, carrying a sobbing Severus. The toddler was completely hysterical, and Sirius quickly grabbed him from his godson's arms. "What happened?" He asked, rubbing Severus's back.

"Kreacher scared him..." Harry muttered, looking behind him as if he expected the elf to be stupid enough to hang about after that.

"Shhh...calm down." Sirius murmured, bouncing Severus a little. "You're a big boy aren't you, hmmm? I told you Kreacher wouldn't hurt you." Sirius comforted. "You really don't like him do you, hmmmm? I'll have to have a talk with Kreacher about scaring you."

"Me...me not scared..." Severus piped up, wiping at his face with a chubby first. "Me bwave...like lion."

"Yes you are, aren't you?" Sirius nodded, wiping away the tears that continued to fall. "You're such a big boy!" He grinned, lifting Severus high into the air and eliciting a squeal of delight. "Aren't you?"

"Me...big boy!" Severus nodded, his face losing the redness. Sirius tossed him higher, then caught him easily. "Higher!" Severus demanded, a wide grin spreading across his face. Sirius obliged and tossed him, despite the horrified gasps from all but Harry.

"Guess what Daddy did while you and Harry were playing?" Sirius smiled, poking Severus's nose.

"What?" Severus asked, curiosity in his black eyes.

"Daddy had Albus bring you a broom." He grinned, spinning Severus to see the tiny broomstick Albus now held in his hands.

Severus's eyes widened. "For me to sweep?" He asked, clearly hoping that that was not the case.

"No, for you to ride!" Albus laughed, tickling Severus beneath the chin.

"Daddy show me how?" Severus asked, hopefully. "Now?"

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"I can turn!" Severus yelled, narrowly escaping knocking himself into the coffee table as he rushed into the living room.

"Wow!" Sirius clapped as Severus brought the broom to a stop for the first time in two hours. "You're a quick little thing aren't you?" He praised, amazed at the speeds the toddler could manage despite it was a bewitched child's brooms.

"I fly like a big boy!" Severus hollered, clapping his hands together as he crawled into Sirius's lap.

"Yes, yes you did." Sirius agreed, standing up with the child in his arms. "But come one now, it's dinner time."

"But I wanna fwy!" Severus argued, surprising Sirius as the child hadn't so much as raised his voice at him.

"Maybe after supper, if you're good, I will even take you to Hogwarts and you can fly a bit on the grounds and maybe see Albus." Sirius offered, knowing that the child had been upset when Albus was called away shortly after he had started riding his broom.

"But-"

"Severus, it is time for supper." Sirius said firmly, ignoring the big pout on Severus's face as he placed him down in his own chair. "Be a good boy."

"Me always a good boy." Severus muttered, grabbing his cup of milk.

"I know." Sirius conceded, taking a bite of the delicious meal Remus had prepared for them. "Wow, I forgot what a great cook you were before you came here."

"It really is good, Remus." Harry agreed, smiling at the werewolf who blushed slightly at the compliment. "How's Tonks?"

"Oh, Tonks is great actually." Remus nodded. "I even swore I heard Moody tell her he was proud of her."

"Oh, Moody is not as tough as he'd like everyone to think." Sirius insisted. "Although he is still rather tough."

"Me done." Severus called out, and sure enough his plate was empty save for a small side of peas.

"Three bites, Sev." Sirius said, going through this almost every meal where peas or green beans were involved. He had looked away, expected Severus too obey as he always did.

"No!" Severus argued, crossing his little arms.

"Excuse me?" Sirius demanded, wondering where the hell this attitude had seemed to materialize from. "Come on, now." He lightened his tone. "Eat three bites like a big boy."

"Nah-uh." Severus protested, shaking his head.

"Suit yourself then, but you're not leaving the table until you take three bites." Sirius tried the tactic, hoping it would work. "And just remember, naughty boys don't get dessert."

'Uh-huh!" Severus protested. "Me want dessert!"

"Then take three bites, Severus. Come on, now. It's not that hard." Harry smiled, and shoved a big spoonful of the peas into his own mouth. "See?"

"I said no!" Severus hollered, his face turning red as he stuck his tongue out at Harry.

"You put that tongue back inside and eat like a good boy." Sirius snapped, wondering what had happened to his well-behaved toddler.

"No! No, no no!" Severus put a look on his face that was so much like the adult-Snape's that Sirius had to resist the urge to holler back at him.

Sirius gave a pointed look to everyone at the table, making it clear they were to ignore the tantruming boy. Thankfully they got the picture, and for a few minutes, conversation turned to normal with Severus doing nothing but glaring at his peas.

"Daddy...I don't wanna eat my peas." Severus sniffled, wiping tears away from his face. "I no have dessert and no peas?"

"No, Severus." Sirius said, hating himself for it. "You acted naughty so you can sit there and finish your peas. If he hated acted so naughty you could leave the table without dessert and without eating the peas."

"No! Me wanna go see Abus." Severus whined, throwing his fork across the table. "No like peas!" He shoved his plate, toppling his glass of milk as he started to cry.

"Severus, shame on you!" Sirius got up from the table and picked up the kicking and screaming toddler as Remus cleaned up the mess. "Leave his plate, Remus." He called back as he went into the living room. Gently, but firmly, Sirius placed Severus in the corner and sat him down.

"You can just sit there until you can behave. Five minutes, Severus. NO talking or moving or I'll start the time again. You know better than to behave like that."

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Severus sobbed, angry and sad. He had been naughty and now Daddy was upset. He wanted to go and hug him, and tell him he was sorry, but Daddy had told him not to move or talk. So he sat there and sniffled, miserable and alone. Daddy was never going to forgive him for this, was he? He was always a good boy, but not anymore. He should have just ate the stupid peas, it wasn't that hard. And Daddy was always nice to him too, he never hit him or anything.

"Severus?"

Severus turned his head and blinked up at Daddy, whose face didn't look so angry anymore. He tried not to cry, but he couldn't really stop it, and Daddy had told him it was okay. So he swallowed and started crying loudly again, hoping Daddy had meant it when he gave him permission to cry. He wrapped his arms around Daddy's neck, and was happy when Daddy hugged him back tightly and rubbed his back. "Me sorry, Daddy." He wailed. "Me listen!" He would never make Daddy angry again, ever.

"What for, Severus?" Daddy questioned, his tone soft like it always was he talked to him.

"Me...me was bad...and me not listen and pushed plate and cup and yelled." He hiccuped, closing his eyes eyes tightly as Daddy held him.

"Good boy. Now are you ready to come out?"

"Yes." Severus nodded, letting Daddy stand up and carry him.

"You're going to finish your peas." Daddy said firmly, settling him down in his lap.

Severus sniffled, but grabbed his fork. Eager to please Daddy and show him he could listen like a good boy. He scrunched his face up as he took a big bite, but didn't complain even though he hated them.

"Good boy." Daddy encouraged, kissing him atop his head. "One more bite." He said softly.

"But you sayed-"

"Just one more bite." Daddy interrupted him.

Severus smiled and took a bite and swallowed quickly, hardly chewing before turning to wrap his arms around Daddy's neck. "Me sorry. Me love you." He stressed, wiping his face on Daddy's collar.

"I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

"Sirius, I have a cure, but it is not an easy fix for our situation." Albus spoke slowly, as if he expected Sirius to go off on a tirade against him. But the only feelings Sirius was feeling was relief and sadness. He had, despite himself, gotten attached.

"Well...let's cure him then." Sirius had to fight the words out, and frowned when they left a disgusting feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"It's a bit more complicated than that Sirius." Albus frowned, as he looked over toward where Severus was stacking a high tower with help from Harry. "His size will return to normal but while his mind and such will be back to an adult's it will still not be quite there. You'll have to watch him a for a week more, when he's in this volatile state, and you'll have to make sure you teach him what he needs to know before he is officially back to normal."

"What...what do you mean?" Sirius could hardly follow the words.

"Like how to properly feed himself, or how to walk down the steps by himself...how to cope with frustration. What you've already been doing, only Severus is likely to be a bit more...naughty in this state."

"So, he'll be a regular toddler." Sirius said dryly. "Terrible twos and all."

"Unfortunately, but I think it is good he should stay with you. He's grown rather attached afterall." Albus smiled at the words. "You know, I was a bit sad, until I figured out Severus would still keep much of his fondness for us."

Sirius blinked, hope filling him up. "He'll still...be as close to us as he is now?" While it would be weird to have a fatherly role in an adult Snape's life, he certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

"Very much so. He'll bond even more doing this process, so do be sure to be as kind as you have been. What you teach him now will stick with him, and perhaps overshadow his rearing from his real parents." Albus took on a softer tone. "While he may still be a bit sarcastic and reserved, maybe you could temper out the mistrust and anger."

"I will." There was no question about it, Sirius would do all those things to make sure he molded Severus into a good boy-man. A good man. "When do we do the cure?" As much as he didn't want Severus to grow up, he knew it had to be done.

"Nap time." Albus said. " I do believe he has ten minutes left until then?"

Sirius looked up at the clock, Albus was light. "Twenty minutes." He lied, going over to sit beside Severus and stack blocks with him.

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"He won't be in pain, will he?" Sirius demanded, brushing back Severus's hair as he sat on the toddlers cot mattress.

"He will be, sadly." Albus frowned deeply, the twinkle gone. "So you can expect a tantrum when he wakes up as likely he'll still be sore."

"It's Severus, he's going to throw a tantrum regardless." Sirius joked, despite the feeling of loss in his stomach.

"Just remember, he is not himself." Albus warned. "Don't treat him like you would have a month ago."

"I would never." Sirius promised, looking over at Albus who sat on a stool.

"I know, child." Albus assured, looking anxious as he cast a look down at the toddler who had yet to show any signs that he was changing. "Sirius, do undress him, won't you? It won't do any good for him to be wearing clothes as they'll just shred in the process."

Sirius nodded and slowly removed the clothing, right before delicately draping the blankets back over the nude form. With a pang he realized Severus had stuck his fingers in his mouth, and he couldn't find a way to make himself remove them. Fuzzy was also nestled in Severus's arm, and Sirius could hardly pull his plushy away. Let the man rant at him for it when he woke up, he didn't care. Kissing the black little head, Sirius pulled a pair of boxers out from the dresser and spelled them bigger, before slipping Severus's feet into them. Severus could at least have that privacy.

"What do we do, Albus?" Sirius asked, desperate to fill the thick silence in the air.

"We wait for him to awaken, Sirius. Though it may take a while, as I decided to put a dose of sleeping draught into his milk this morning."

"How long is awhile Albus?"

"I should think a good four hours, Sirius." Albus explained. "Why don't we head downstairs for awhile?"

"I don't want to leave him alone." Sirius insisted, not wanting to tear his eyes away from the sleeping baby.

"Sirius, believe me, we will hear when the potion starts to take effect. You should go downstairs and prepare yourself for what is to come. As it were, I'd like to discuss a few things with you and Remus and Harry."

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Sirius had taken a sip of coffee when a moan was heard over the baby monitor. He got up quickly, and Albus followed after him while Harry and Remus stayed seated as it had been established that they didn't want to overwhelm Severus with people when he woke up. Throwing open the door, Sirius was shocked to see that Severus was back to his full size but yet still asleep. He sat down on the bed, hardly caring that he might be struck by Severus in his fear of anger.

"He's going to need a bath." Sirius sighed, noticing how much Severus had seemed to sweat during the ordeal. The poor man was sticky as Sirius pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, pleased that there was no fever.

Severus whimpered slightly, and snuggled Fuzzy closer to himself with his fingers still in his mouth. It was an odd spectacle to behold, but Sirius could hardly focus on that as Severus seemed to cringe in pain. The man drew his knees up to his chest and his face scrunched up, yet he continued to sleep.

"Shhh, shhh. You're okay." Sirius murmured, rubbing Severus's shoulder.

It seemed to work for a few moments, but then Severus would moan again and Sirius would have to start over again. This went on for a good twenty minutes before Severus gave a sharp gasp and jerked, biting down hard on his fingers and losing control of his bladder at the same time. The black eyes flashed opened and Severus jerked upright, a confused look on his face as tears started to drip down his face.

"Severus, my boy, how do you feel?" Albus asked, rushing over to cup Severus's face in his hands.

Severus's response was to cry and sniffle all the more while wriggling away from Albus. "Me feel weird." He whined. "Where...where Dadd- where Sirius?" He seemed to be struggling for control of his mind as he swiped angrily at the tears on his red cheeks.

"I'm right here." Sirius called out, holding his arms out in the vain hope that Severus would crawl into them.

"Me feel weird, Sirius." Severus sobbed, crawling over to him to rest his head in his lap.

"I know, I know. Albus and I have a lot to explain to you." He purred, rubbing Severus's back. "But can we maybe get you cleaned up, hm?" He asked gently. "You're all sweaty." He left out the part about full of pee, but Severus quickly realized that and turned red as he turned his face into Sirius's lap and started to bawl.

"Hey, it was an accident." Sirius soothed. "It was the potions fault, not yours." He comforted, trying to get Severus's emotions down to a more manageable level.

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Severus squirmed everytime Sirius tried to flip him over, to embarrassed to show his face. He knew he despised Black and should be mortified that his worst enemy had seen him like this, but he desperately needed Black to assure him everything was okay which was the reason he hadn't thrown himself off the bed.

"Hey, no one blames you, okay? But let's get you up and cleaned up, hmmm? Then we can have a talk about all this."

Severus sniffled loudly. Talk? Was he in trouble. "I'm sorry." He whined. "Don't put me in corner." He pleaded, when the scary idea that maybe he was getting a spanking instead entered his mind.

"No, you're not in any trouble at all." Sirius promised, still rubbing his back gently. "Come on now, a quick bath with you."

Sniffling he squirmed off Sirius's lap, only to find the process horribly uncomfortable due to the warm wetness he was currently covered in. He looked up at Sirius with big eyes, hoping he would understand his dilemma. Thankfully the animagus seemed to understand and carefully stood up. Severus sat up on his knees and scooted that way, although it was still unpleasant. Sirius carefully grabbed him beneath the armpits, helping his off the bed so that he wouldn't have to sit down on his bottom. "Come on, too your bathroom." Sirius spoke gently, and Severus found himself encouraged enough to waddle over into the bathroom and sit on the toilet as Sirius filled up the big tub with warm water and bubbles.

Severus hiccuped and managed to kick his boxers off, slightly calmer when the fabric stopped touching his skin.

"Alright, let's get you clean." Sirius said, pulling him up and helping him step into the tub.

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"Alright, see how warm the water is?" Sirius asked gently, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears that continued to fall from Severus's face. Much to his relief, Severus didn't fight the affection, and actually seemed to be craving it. Wondering just how long that would last before the tantruming started, he handed Severus a washrag.

"Me feel...weird." Severus complained again, looking miserable as he slouched in the tub. "Me...My fingers hurt." He held up the hand that he had bitten down on when he awoke and Sirius could see the bite marks reddening the pale skin. "Me feel weird." The bottom lip shot out in a pout and fresh tears started to fall down in cascades.

"Here, let me fix them." Sirius soothed, pulling out his wand and easily healing the fingers with a simple flick. "Does that feel better?"

Severus nodded and sniffled, before started to frown down at the water. "We done?"

"No, Severus. Just a few minutes more, okay? I'll go quick?" Sirius promised, already grabbing another wash rag as Severus didn't seem to want to do anything but sit and cry silently. Not that that wasn't okay. "Hey, now, you're okay. As soon as we're done here, we'll get you into something warm and comfortable and then we'll get that weird feeling away from you."

"Okay." Severus nodded as Sirius quickly worked to clean him up, and Sirius was appreciative that he raised no protest whatsoever, even when he cleaned the hair.

"Alright, let's get you out of the tub." Sirius said softly, holding his hands out so Severus could balance himself. Once Severus was standing, unsteadily, Sirius quickly wrapped a large warm towel around him and sat lead him out into the bedroom and settled him on the bed. "Alright, what do you want to wear?" Sirius asked, already opening the closet and pleased to find that Albus has resized the clothes.

Severus didn't even answer, he simply lay down on his side and stared over at him with fear-filled eyes. "Warm." He muttered finally, after Sirius had waited a few moments.

"Well...alright." Sirius decided a pair of black fuzzy pajamas would be fine, even if it wasn't even four in the afternoon. Sirius walked back to the bed as Severus sat up and held his arms above his head, clearly wanting to help out despite the fact that it was a button up top. Humoring Severus to avoid a tantrum, he maneuvered the top until it was on correctly and did half of the buttons until Severus yanked away.

"I do!" He growled, already struggling with a button to prove his point.

Sirius shook his head. "Alright, you can do the buttons." He agreed in a level tone. "But let me get your bottoms on while you do them."

Severus nodded and lay down flat on the bed, still unable to even get one button done. Sirius figured he'd wait until asked before he helped out and slid the clean bottoms up Severus's legs who was helpful enough to lift his bottom up when the time came.

"Here, Severus, let me help you." Albus was already leaning over Severus before Sirius could even warn him it was not a good idea to take independence away from Severus.

"No! NO!" Severus argued, batting at the hands as Albus ignored them easily.

"Albus, he can do it." Sirius insisted.

"Nonsense. I'll be done in a minute, he doesn't need to be thrust into this so quickly."

Severus fought against the wrinkled hands but Albus was quick to finish the task and as soon as he finished and Severus registered they were all buttoned, he burst into angry tears and started kicking his feet against the bed. "Me could do!" He yelled, his face red.

"Severus, I am sorry." Albus soothed, reaching out a hand to comfort Severus.

"No. Me do!" Severus hollered, smacking the hand away.

"Severus Snape!" Sirius scolded, going over to the bed and rolling the tantruming man over to his stomach he landed a very mild swat to the backside. Almost instantly the yelling stopped and Severus turned around and moved his hands to cover his backside.

"But...me do." Severus complained, his bottom lip quivering. "Me can do and he..Albus wouldn't let me." Severus's eyes flooded and tears fell heavily on the freshly washed face. "I sorry Albus, I sorry Dadd...Sirius." He bit his lip. "No corner?" He asked hopefully.


	9. Chapter 9

"No, you don't need to go sit in the corner this time. But we do not smack people when we get upset or frustrated, do we?" Sirius lectured, pulling Severus into a hug.

"Nah-uh." Severus agreed, burying his face in his shoulder. "But me can do buttons."

Sirius rolled his eyes. If there was going to be this much trouble over buttons, he was simply going to toss out anything with the damn objects. "I know you can, and next time you can try and do them yourself."

Severus just nodded into his shoulder, and Sirius sat down on the bed and in seconds Severus was in his lap still hiding his face. "Me...me..me still feel weird." He muttered, his voice slightly muffled.

Sirius looked at Albus who nodded and held out a few potions.

"Severus, dear, I need you to drink these potions." Albus purred.

Severus looked up with big eyes at Sirius. "They taste icky?"

Sirius sighed. "Yes, but once you drink them all I'll let you have some chocolate milk."

"Chocolate?" The black eyes widened. "I feel better after?"

Sirius nodded and Albus handed over a vial or blue potion to Severus. "I open." Severus said firmly, clearly eager to show his independence as he struggled to get the cork free. He tried for a good five minutes before trying to use his teeth.

"No." Sirius said firmly. "You don't open things with your teeth." He scolded lightly. "Try again with your hands."

"But...but I want do." Severus's eyes were filling with the tears again. "And..I no can do with hands." He whined, trying to pull out the cork that remained stubbornly within.

"Would you like Dadd- me to help?" Sirius asked gently, rubbing circles on Severus's back.

Severus looked insulted for a moment, but then nodded sadly and relinquished his grip on the vial. "Me try...me not baby."

"I know you are not a baby." Sirius assured, removing the cork so only a millimeter or so was showing. "Why don't you try opening this now?"

Severus sniffled but grabbed the potion, excitement lighting up his face when the cork easily came off. He grinned widely, as if he had just won something amazing, and Sirius couldn't help but smile along with Albus.

"Good job!" Albus clapped. "Tell me, Severus. Do you know what that potion is?"

"This potion is for tummy." Severus declared, throwing back the contents and making a look of pure disgust on his face.

"Alright, here is another." Albus handed over a pink potion, with the cork already mostly out and ready for Severus to remove.

"Open?" Severus asked, looking disappointed with himself as he handed it into Sirius's fingers.

"I think you open this one." Sirius promised. "Give it a try." He coaxed, passing it back to Severus.

Severus gave him a doubtful look, but yanked at the cork, sending it flying across the room. Severus would have toppled backwards if Sirius hadn't been holding him. "Good boy!" Sirius smiled, instantly putting Severus as ease as the Slytherin had clearly been thinking he'd get into trouble for the cork.

"Drink up, now." Albus coaxed, sitting down on the bed in front of Severus.

Severus nodded solemnly and downed the pink potion and then quickly swallowed a brown potion half-way before trying to push it back at Albus. "Ick. Icky! No drink!" He protested, looking close to being sick.

Sirius could hardly blame him. If the horrid smell that the potion gave off was any indicator, that potion must have tasted like complete rubbish.

"Come on now, Severus. You drink this potion and then we can go and have some chocolate milk." Sirius offered, sincerely hoping milk would be enough to wash the taste away.

"Ick." Severus whined, but nonetheless he grabbed the vial and threw back the rest in one go. His face crumpled up, but he swallowed down air, obviously fighting the urge to vomit. "Nasty." He complained, glaring at the empty vial.

"I imagine so." Albus nodded, waving his wand to accio up a large glass of chocolate milk. "Here, my dear."

"Thank you." Severus breathed gratefully, before grabbing the cup with both hands and swallowing quickly as if he had not had a drink in days.

"Slowly." Sirius insisted, after a few moments of Severus's harried drinking.

Severus nodded, but only slowed a little. Shaking his head Sirius allowed him his drink, knowing full-well that the potion must have truly tasted awful. "More?" Severus asked, holding out his cup to Albus.

"Of course." Albus nodded, and waved his wand, sending more milk from the kitchen flying into the cup. As Severus drank heartily, Albus met Sirius's gaze. "We want to make sure his body is working properly." Albus explained. "So do be sure to stay on top of his bathroom needs."

Thankfully Severus was too distracted by the milk to have heard them discussing him as if he were not there as Sirius knew that would have likely thrown Severus into a tizzy. "Alright." Sirius nodded at Albus, quickly placing a hand beneath the cup as every few seconds it seemed to nearly slip out of Severus's grasp. Sirius was careful to make it seem as if he was not helping out, as he did not want another tantrum, especially not so soon.

Sirius stroked the black hair as Severus leaned against him and enjoyed his milk at a much slower rate. Sirius enjoyed the contact, and sincerely hoped this wouldn't be the last chance he'd have to snuggle with his chil- Severus. He much enjoyed the contact, and Severus seemed to as well as he leaned heavily into his shoulder so that Sirius was supporting most of his weight.

"Still so affectionate, I see." Albus grinned, stretching over to tousle the black hair. "How are you feeling, child?"

Severus pulled the cup away from his mouth, letting the cup slide through his fingers. Thankfully Sirius had had his hand beneath the cup. "Better." He nodded. "Don't feel as weird."

Sirius's eyes widened at the use of fuller sentences. "Do you...want to talk about what happened now?"

Severus shook his head. "I remember...I think." He grabbed the cup again, with two hands once more.

"So you remember not leaving proper notes while you worked on a new potion?" Albus scolded. "That was very dangerous and I've told you more than once not to do that!"

Sirius knew Albus's heart was in the right place, but it wasn't appropriate to yell at Severus for something he had done as a fully functioning adult when he wasn't a fully functioning adult.

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Severus couldn't help it, he felt those damn tears poke at the back of his eyes again. He was powerless to stop his bottom lip quivering, though he knew it was a childish thing to do. But Albus was yelling at him, and that always bothered him because he respected Albus. He leaned into Sirius, hiding his face in his shoulder as he felt the tears spill over. This wasn't fair. He still felt odd and this was all so disorienting and he didn't feel like he should be getting into trouble so quickly. He had already been scolded and swatted, and that had only just been ten minutes ago!

"Albus, he's still not himself." Sirius said softly, starting to rub his back in a comforting manner. "We can discuss the note taking once he's completely himself."

Severus sniffled and wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius's neck. Was Sirius defending him to Albus? Why was he being nice? Was it only because Albus was there? But if that was the case then why wouldn't he just let Albus scold him? Confused, he simply cried harder, clinging to Sirius. He didn't even really care if he was going to get punished for this, all he wanted was for Albus not to be cross with him.

"Hey, calm down." Sirius purred, rubbing his back gently. "You're not in any trouble, Severus. Albus was just saying that you should write better notes." Sirius's voice was smooth and even and Severus felt himself calming despite himself. "You're okay, I know, I know this is confusing."

"I am so sorry, Severus. I didn't mean to be so rough." Albus said, and seconds later Severus could feel his hand ruffling his hair. "Try and calm down, hmmm? I do believe I have some ice cream that you can enjoy."

Ice cream? Severus loved Ice cream. A lot. And best of all neither Albus or Sirius was angry with him. He was ecstatic. He took a deep breath, trying to slow his breathing. Peeking his head up he swiped at his eyes with his sleeves, only for Sirius to shoo it away.

"Here." Sirius offered him a tissue, but Severus refused to take it, wondering why he couldn't just use his sleeve. Sirius sighed, and wiped at his face for him and Severus kept quiet despite the fact that he was more than capable of doing that himself.

"Good." Albus smiled at him kindly and handed his a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Severus grabbed the treat and leaned into Sirius once more. "Thank you." He smiled, grabbing at the spoon. To his chagrin he found it was really hard to get a proper hold of the utensil. Growling he simply wrapped a hand around the handle and brought a bite up to his mouth. He smiled as the taste filled his mouth, all but erasing the memory of that nasty potion. Going for another bite was a struggle, it kept falling back into the bowl and at one point into his lap. Sirius didn't scold him however, he simply wiped it away with a tissue. Undeterred, Severus continued the process and managed to land another bite into his mouth despite having missed his mouth a couple times beforehand. Happy with his progress he went for another bite, only to drop his spoon to the carpet below.

Sirius was going to be angry with him now. And why was he even having such trouble eating? And why wasn't he embarrassed? And why was Daddy letting him sit on his lap? And why did Dad-Sirius simply clean the spoon and hand it back to him? Frustrated he pushed at the spoon. "No." He complained, giving up.

"You don't want anymore ice cream?" Sirius asked, his tone incredulous.

"That doesn't sound like Severus." Albus said knowingly. "Come now, no one is making fun of you."

"Can't!" Severus whined, feeling hotness at the back of his eyes.

"Do you want some help?" Daddy- Sirius asked him, already holding out a spoon full in front of his mouth. "Grab the spoon, and I'll help."

Severus sniffled but grabbed the spoon, knowing it wasn't right as it felt awkward in his grasp. But he couldn't voice his complaints before Sirius put his hand around his and guided the spoon to his mouth. Severus blinked. This wasn't so bad. He wasn't being completely helpless and Sirius didn't even look like he was going to make fun of him for this. He was more than pleased with the treat and eager to show that he could help guide the spoon.

"Ah! Let's bring the spoon a little to the left." Sirius hinted, gently coaxing their hand closer to Severus's mouth. "There we go." Sirius nodded, making Severus feel smug that he wasn't completely helpless.

Eventually though, Severus grew tired of the process. It took much too long and he simply wanted to enjoy his treat without having to work so damn hard for it. So when Sirius went to put another bite on his spoon, Severus simply held his mouth open and refused to grab the spoon. Thankfully Daddy got the hint and no one laughed at him as Sirius started to feed him the ice cream at a rate that kept him happy.


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you ready for some supper, Severus?" SIrius asked, brushing Severus's black hair out from his face. "I think there's chocolate cake for dessert." Sirius grinned as Severus's eyes went big.

"Yes, we eat." Severus declared authoritatively, as if he were giving a professor giving a student an order.

"That does sound good." Albus nodded, reaching over to smooth Severus's hair down.

"Do you have to use the bathroom first?" Sirius asked, wanting to avoid any accidents that might send Severus into a tizzy.

"Yes." Severus nodded, but made no move to get up off Sirius's lap. Instead the man just sat there, still a bit pouty and tired looking.

"Come on, up." Sirius coaxed, standing up and attempting to settle Severus on his feet. Severus, however, chose to just cling on to him and wrap his arm up in his shirt. "Severus, you have to use the bathroom. Come on now." Sirius said gently, trying to remove the hand wrapped up in his shirt.

"No." Severus insisted, clutching tightly to Sirius. "I don't have to go anymore." He insisted.

Sirius took a deep breath. "You just said you had to." Sirius pointed out, hoping that the logic would sink into Severus.

"I don't have to." Severus argued again, refusing to allow Sirius to place him on the floor.

"Well, you can just try anyways." Sirius said firmly.

"No!" Severus argued, winding himself tightly to Sirius as he tried once again to place him down on the floor.

"Severus, you are going to try and use the bathroom." Sirius left no room for argument.

"No." Severus drawled, his eyes glaring up at Sirius. "I'm not a child anymore, you can't tell me what to do." He said smugly.

Sirius had to take several deep breaths to calm down, the look Severus was giving him was very reminiscent of the sneer Sirius despised. The only thing doing anything to negate that out was the fact that Severus's bottom lip was poking out, and that he was not fully in his reasonable adult mind. "I understand you are not a child, Severus. But you just told me you had to use the bathroom, so that is what you're going to do. Just because you are an adult again doesn't mean you don't need someone taking care of you, you are still very much not back to normal."

"Yes I am!" Severus insisted, looking at Albus with pleading eyes as if he expected the headmaster to actually agree with him.

"You're clinging to me right now and refusing to use the bathroom when you need to," Sirius was quick to point out, "That shows you're not back to normal."

"No." Severus insisted, clinging tighter to Sirius's body.

"Severus." Sirius gently forced Severus to look up at him by putting a hand beneath his chin. "You are going to try, or you won't get any cake tonight."

As expected the grip loosened and the glare lessoned. "Okay."

"Thank you for cooperating." Sirius spoke gently and stood up again with Severus in his arms. He gave him a brief squeeze before settling a reluctant Severus unto his feet. "Go on, now." Sirius coaxed, moving away from Severus just in time to see him take a step and then topple face forward to the floor. He landed with a hard thud, so quickly that he hadn't even stuck his hands out to catch himself.

"Shit." Sirius cursed, kneeling next to Severus and pulling him upright as he started to bawl.

Severus clung tightly to him as Sirius lifted him up and rubbed at his back. "Was this why you changed your mind?" Sirius asked. "Why didn't you say something?"

"You laugh at me." Severus whimpered. "Cause I can't walk good."

Sirius sighed heavily. "I've been taking care of you for the last month, Severus." He explained slowly. "Things are different now." He promised, hugging him tightly. "Come on now, you can use the bathroom and then we can go get some supper."

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Severus relaxed greatly in Sirius's arms, relieved to know that things hadn't changed because he really didn't want to go back to hating Sirius. He was just confused as to where that left them now. Something was going to change, and he wasn't sure when and how and that worried him. He liked always being in control, but now he wasn't even in control of his legs at the moment.

Even now Black- Sirius stood him up in the bathroom and let him lean against him as he unbuttoned his bottoms. Sirius didn't even look disgusted as he helped him unto the toilet and then left to stand outside the door.

Severus was so confused. What was he supposed to do? Why did he feel so oddly. He felt like he wasn't in control of his emotions anymore, and that's what bothered him most. He was always so collected, and now he could barely control the few tears that started to poke out of his eyes much less understand what they were for. He tried to swipe them away as quickly as they came before Sirius could see them, but it was no use.

"Hey, don't cry." Sirius pleaded, walking in after five minutes. "You're fine." He murmured, helping him to stand up and get his bottoms on correctly. "Let's go get some food, hmm?"

"Please." Severus agreed, hiding his face in Sirius's robes as he knew that Potter-Harry and Lupin-Remus were still there and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Sirius just kept rubbing his back in circles, and Severus started to feel a bit better regardless of his confusion and he wondered if Sirius would make him eat disgusting peas. He frowned at the thought, but held out the hope that now he was more adultish he wouldn't be forced to do those things he didn't want to do.

Before long they were in the dining room and Sirius was settling him down in a chair beside his own seat. Severus rubbed at his eyes a bit before looking around the table to see Harry and Remus without glares and teasing looks like he had expected. Instead they looked mildly concerned and mostly friendly.

"Hey, Severus. How are you feeling?" Remus asked, before taking a sip of his goblet.

"Wierd." He complained, hating the whine in his voice as Sirius put food on his plate. Which, of course, involved peas.

"You'll feel better after you eat." Remus said knowingly.

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Sirius handed a fork to Severus and helped to situate it in his hand. "Do you want to try yourself?" He asked gently, looking him in the eyes so Severus could not try to lie out of embarrassment.

"You." Severus whispered, his cheeks flaming.

"Alright, I'll help." Sirius agreed, pressing the fork back into Severus's hands. "But you'll have to try too." He admonished, turning Severus's chair to face him. "I'll feed you one, and then you have to try." He ignored the petulant pout on the man's face as scooped up some potatoes and brought them to his lips.

Severus looked ashamed but complied, opening his mouth to and chewing before lifting his own spoon in an attempt to take a bit himself. It went much the way the ice cream incident had, and Sirius found himself guiding the spoon while Severus held it. This went on for a good while before Sirius put some peas on the spoon, not to be a jerk, but because he still needed to establish he was in charge and because it was good for Severus and it was only going to be three bites.

As expected Severus refused to even open his mouth, and turned his face away from the spoon. Sirius took a deep breath. "There is cake." He reminded, putting on a firm look. "And you won't get any unless you take two bites." He stared into the black eyes, relaying that he meant business, when Severus opened his mouth. "Thank you." Sirius awarded, waiting until he was done chewing to put another bite into his mouth. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sirius asked, as Remus placed a large slice of chocolate cake in front of them.

"Thanks, Remus." Severus whispered, before taking a bite of the cake on his own. He kept it up for a good ten minutes, before he growled in frustration as most of the cake had just ended up going on his face.

"Here." Sirius took over, letting Severus hold the spoon while he guided it to his mouth. Sirius made a mental note to research how he should be training Severus. Perhaps he had a book in that large library he never went in, or perhaps he'd simply write to Molly. The Weasley's. That was right...they were coming in a week, and he knew he had better start preparing Severus for that. He would absolutely kill anyone who dared to upset his chi- Severus. He simply wouldn't tolerate it, but at the same time he wouldn't tolerate Severus misbehaving. Grabbing a washrag, he cleaned Severus's face. "Would you like to go read for a bit?" Sirius asked, as everyone else had already finished eating dinner and were in the living room.

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Severus nodded excitedly and Sirius brought him into the living room and settled him down in the chair that Harry always liked to sit in. He rubbed his eyes as Sirius placed a blanket over him and handed him the daily prophet and set a picture book beside him on the table. Severus was struggling to really comprehend most of the words, but he was happy enough to look at the moving photographs in the paper. One of the pictures was a funny looking animal, and Severus couldn't for the life of him recall what it was called. Frowning he leaned over toward the couch and pulled on Albus's sleeve until he looked over. Severus held the paper out and pointed at the animal, and Albus smiled warmly.

"That is a genet, Severus." Albus explained. "It seems one found it's way into Honeydukes the other day." He explained, handing the paper back to him as Harry came down the steps.

"I was sitting there and I was reading that." He sounded a bit miffed, but didn't say anything else before he took a seat next to Dumbledore on the couch.

Severus frowned. Was Harry upset with him? Harry could have his seat back. The only reason he was in the chair was because Sirius had placed him there. It wasn't his fault, and now Harry was upset him. He thought of getting up from his chair, but he would fall on his face and he didn't really much want to do that.

But he could give Harry the paper, because he really wasn't doing anything with it except staring at the picture, and he could just use the picture book beside him on the table to do that. "Harry." He held out the paper to the teenager, relieved when he took it.

"That was very kind of you." Albus praised, giving Severus a smile as Severus grabbed the book from the side-table.

Severus smiled, he liked the praise very much. He never got any praise, except for when he was little and Sirius was taking care of him. He looked at the pictures happily, imagining all sorts of scenarios that might happen within the scenes, when Sirius placed a cup beside him.

"You didn't have anything to drink at supper." Sirius explained, rustling his hair. "Drink up."

Severus nodded, and eager to obey, he grabbed the cup and struggled to take a big drink. It proved difficult and eventually he ended up dropping the milk into his lap and unto the book. He flinched. Sirius was going to hit him, or throw him out and he hadn't even tried to drop the cup- he had been trying to obey. He felt tears poke at his eyes, but Sirius didn't even yell at him as he spelled the mess away with his wand.

"It's alright, accidents happen." Sirius soothed kindly, handing the now clean book back to him. "You're still readjusting, it's hard."


	11. Chapter 11

Sirius felt sad that now that Severus was semi-back to normal, some of his mistrust seemed to return. He smiled down at Severus though, eager to establish trust between semi-adult Severus and hoping he wouldn't have to do it to completely adult Severus. "It's alright, you can still trust me." Sirius insisted, wiping a few tears from Severus's face. "Harry, will you go and get Severus another cup of milk?" Sirius asked, still kneeling down in front of Severus.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to get him a bottle?" Harry snapped, surprising Sirius to no end.

"Harry James!" He scolded, amazed at the defiant look Harry was sending him. "Go and do as I asked!"

"Can't he do it himself now?" Harry demanded. "I thought the potion turned back into his old greasy self."

"Harry! I am surprised at you!" Albus chided, and indeed the headmaster did look shocked. "Severus is still not quite himself."

"That would explain why he was somewhat decent." Harry retorted, stomping off to the kitchen.

Sirius was livid with Harry, where did he get off harassing anyone? And where had all this attitude come from? Surely it couldn't be do to jealousy? Sirius had made sure to spend plenty time with Harry, but maybe it hadn't been enough? Still, it was no reason for him to act out so poorly. He was old enough to voice his complaints.

"Am I in trouble?" Severus whimpered, hiding his face with his hands.

"No, you're not in any trouble." Sirius promised, hugging Severus who began to cry in earnest. "Harry just might be a bit tired and crabby."

"I'm not in trouble?" Severus asked again, leaning heavily into Sirius as Remus went after Harry with a stern look on his face.

"No, why would you think that, hmm?" Sirius asked, trying his best to staunch the tears that fell from Severus who was trying, and failing, to be quiet. Was he afraid to cry again?

"Cause I'm me now, and you and Harry don't like me and you're in charge." Severus whimpered, clearly fearing that Sirius would use his position to harass him.

"I love you very much." Sirius said firmly. "And Remus and Albus love you too, and Harry cares for as well." He insisted. "And no one is going to be cruel to you or harass you." He promised. "I took good care of you when you were little, remember?"

Severus hiccuped but nodded. "Very good." He insisted, sniffling.

"And I'll take good care of you now." Sirius promised, looking Severus straight in the eye.

"Why would you?" Severus asked darkly, self-loathing showing on his face.

Sirius was going to put a stop to the lack of self-esteem before it could even start. "Because you were a wonderful, smart, lovely child, and you're all those things now." He insisted, wiping the tears away from Severus's cheeks. "Aren't you?" He asked, wanting Severus to say it himself.

Severus blushed deeply and was stubbornly silent for a long time before he looked over at Albus who gave a nod. Severus rubbed his face, before looking Sirius and finally nodding. "Yes..." There was still a question in the voice, but Sirius figured he made great strides just by making Severus say so.

Just then Remus walked in, a muggle looking water bottle in his hand filled with milk. "Hey do I get a hug too?" He asked, leaning down with his arms open. To Sirius's surprise Severus latched on, before turning to Albus with expectant eyes until he walked over and offered up his own hug.

"Now this is a water bottle, I figured it might be a little easier for now and it's spill proof." Remus said kindly, handing the water bottle over to Severus.

"Thank you." Severus said softly, rubbing his eyes once more before turning to Albus. "Will you read to me?"

Albus smiled and patted the empty part of the couch next to him. "Of course."

Sirius smiled and moved Severus over to the couch and placed a blanket over him for the second time that night as he snuggled into Albus's lap with a tired look on his face. Perhaps Severus would fall asleep easily.

"Where's Harry?" He asked Remus, who had settled down in an empty chair with a book.

"I sent him to his room." Remus explained. "Perhaps we should go talk to him?"

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"We'll be right back." Sirius told Albus and Severus, preparing to go and have a talk with his moody godson.

"No." Severus whined, fear on his face. "Stay." He pleaded.

"We'll be right back." Sirius promised. "And Albus is reading you a story." He reminded Severus.

"Yes, we were just getting to the good part." Albus grinned, tickling Severus beneath the chin.

"No. I don't Harry to get in trouble because of me." Severus explained, a fearful expression on his face as if he expected Sirius to beat on Harry.

"Severus, I will never hurt you or Harry. I'm only going to go and talk with him." Sirius said calmly. "You stay here with Albus, okay?"

"Okay." Severus still had a frown on his face, but he snuggled back into Albus's lap so that the older wizard could finish reading the book.

"What do you think is going on with Harry?" Sirius asked Remus once they were on the stairs. "You don't think it's jealousy?"

"I don't know, Sirius." Remus sighed. "We'll just have to talk to him and see for ourselves."

"But I've never seen him act so...'bully-ish.' You don't think I've been ignoring him, do you?"

"You haven't been ignoring anyone." Remus assured. "If you have, it's been yourself." He added.

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Harry felt badly about snapping about Snape, but he couldn't help it. He had really thought Snape would be back to being Snape, and that it would be okay to goad him on a bit. He hadn't really realized it was Severus until he had started to cry and cower. Admittedly it wasn't okay to harass a professor, but still...

A knock sounded on his door and he sighed. "It's open." He called out, already knowing who was out there before Remus and Sirius walked in with stern looks on their faces.

"Harry James Potter!" Sirius began.

"What has gotten into you?" Remus demanded, reminding Harry of the twins.

"I'm sorry, I really am." Harry insisted, not used to the look of disapproval on both the men's faces. "I thought he was fully Snape again, and I thought he was annoying me on purpose."

"Even if he was fully adult, you don't speak down to someone like that." Remus scolded, clearly the stricter one.

"He did all the time!" Harry argued.

"Yes, I know, but it still is not alright." Remus responded. "It wasn't fair the way he treated you, but that doesn't mean you go and imitate a behavior you find unfair."

"And I have been working with Severus, if all goes as planned he won't ever really be the way he was before, not exactly." Sirius explained. "You really sacred him today, Harry." Sirius lectured. "If we have any hope of raising him up to be happier, you have to do your part to. I won't allow anyone to stunt his growth- mentally, or especially emotionally."

Harry swallowed. He felt like such a prat. He had been a bully, he really had been. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I'm sorry, Remus. Can I go and apologize to him?" He asked, hoping that Severus wouldn't fear him or be upset, because he really had been getting a bit attached.

"I think that would be a very good idea." Remus agreed.

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Severus rubbed at his eyes once more, before turning back to his picture book. Albus had long ago finished his story and Severus was content to lie in his lap and look at the pages of his picture book and let his imagination run wild. He was so engrossed that he hadn't even noticed Harry until he was kneeling beside the couch.

"Hey, Severus." Harry called out, scaring Severus. Harry was going to hit him, he was sure of it. He quickly dropped his book and turned his face into Albus's stomach, hoping Harry would go away. He whimpered as he felt a hand on the back of his head. "Hey, I wanted to apologize, allright? That wasn't nice of me to do and I didn't mean it." He insisted.

Severus froze. Harry's voice sure sounded sincere, but maybe he was only apologizing because Daddy had made him and Harry really still resented him. He needed to look at Harry's face, to know for sure. Still frightened, he made himself turn around to stare at the earnest look on Harry's face. Harry _was _being honest, and Severus relaxed considerably. "It's okay." He yawned, rubbing his heavy eyes. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble." He insisted.

"No." Harry shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong." Harry insisted. "That was all me."

Severus relaxed all the more but sat up and offered his arms out to Harry for a truce-hug. He was more than thrilled when Harry quickly accepted the offer. Yawning once more, he settled down in Albus's lap again, starting to look at his book once more while Harry, Remus, and Daddy all started to talk about random things that held no interest for him.

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Albus looked down when he heard snoring and smiled at the angelic and peaceful face of Severus. A face he had never seen before on the man. He brushed a few strands of hair away from the man's face, before pulling the blankets up to Severus's shoulder as he clutched his water bottle like a plushie. Shaking his head, Albus removed the water bottle, and accioed Fuzzy and slipped him beneath Severus's arm before he could awaken at the sensation of something being taken from his arms.

"Sirius, I hate to interrupt, but I do believe Severus should be put to bed." Albus pointed out, drawing Sirius's attention away from a chess match between Remus and Harry.

"Right." Sirius nodded, and scooped up Severus who didn't so much a stir an inch at the change.

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Sirius carefully laid the slumbering man down in his bed, taking care to cover him up completely and kiss him on the forehead. "Goodnight, Sev." He whispered, startling when Severus creaked his eyes open.

"Night Sirius." He yawned, rubbing at his tired eyes. "Love you." He whispered, seemingly unaware that the phrase caused Sirius's heart to contract painfully.

"I love you too, darling." Sirius whispered, kissing him on the cheek again as Severus feel asleep.


End file.
